


Starring Role

by SabinaPixel



Category: Naruto, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Chunin Level Sakura, Crossover, Haruno Sakura is So Done, Haruno Sakura-centric, OC - Igarashi Shunsui, OCs - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smart Haruno Sakura
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28555593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabinaPixel/pseuds/SabinaPixel
Summary: Death was an intimate rival of sorts to Sakura. They met often in the hospital, roughhoused a bit, glared, then left only to return later for another go. So when Sakura should have, by all means, died and instead wakes up in a place that is definitely not the afterlife, she is a bit angry at Death. They're gonna have words soon enough.Now where is she and what is she supposed to do? Can she go back home? What the hell are all this strange metal contraptions? Why are these people wearing skin tight bodysuits? And oh, can someone point her to the hospital 'cause she's pretty sure she's gonna collapse soon. Blood loss, such a bitch right?
Relationships: nothing yet
Comments: 46
Kudos: 330
Collections: Clever Crossovers & Fantastic Fusions, Time Travel and World Travel





	1. The End is The Beginning is The End

  
Death. A widely discussed and debated subject, yet just as readily avoided and regarded as taboo. The human mind either accepts it as something inevitable and moves on, or it rejects the mere idea of it and proceeds to ignore its existence for as long as it can.

Many hate the harsh reality of death, for it cares not whether those it claims are young or old, innocent or guilty, loved by many or alone in the world. It takes and it takes and it seems selfish, and hungry, and greedy, and... unstoppable.

And poor little humans, left to mourn and suffer in the wake of a passing, can only cling to the hope that _something_ might come after. That their loved one are in a better place, that the damned and the vile are forever punished for their crimes. Or that, at the very least, there will be nothing, a void, to quiet the chaotic minds and rest the troubled souls.

In the case of one Haruno Sakura, death has been something she was ignorant towards, in the beginning, but has later been forced upon her abruptly, aggressively. One mission was enough to hammer the notion of death and killing so deep into her mind, that she could practically see whatever little armor her naiveté provided her with, crumble at her feet.

The beginning of her training as a medic nin, under the legendary Tsunade Senju, has made her have a far more intimate relationship with Death. She will never forget the first time she witnessed Shishou lose a patient.

He was just a boy, younger than Sakura by 5 years. She got to know him while they were preparing for his operation.

It should have been easy, just a 'Count to 10 and you'll wake up when it's over.' There were complications. Before she knew it the medics were frantically calling for Tsunade and pushing her out of the operation room. From the observation room she got to see Shishou yell at the medics to move faster, curse every time the bleeding didn't stop, and eventually drop her head in defeat and pronounce the time of death.

She broke down in the arms of her master, weeping and sobbing and wailing for Kami knows how long, before Tsunade grabbed her shoulders and told her, looking her dead in the eyes.

_'Medic-nin, regardless of what other shinobi believe, are the strongest of all. They greet Death like a rival and they fight it almost on a daily basis. The strength of iryo-nin, Sakura, is the ability to get up after they lose and try again. If you continue down this path, what happened today is just the beginning. Now I will teach you and arm you, so that next time you'll have more of a fighting chance, so that next time you'll get to see what the result of winning is, what saving a life feels like. Do you think you can do that, Sakura? Do you have what it takes to get up again?'_

And she did. She got up more determined than ever to learn, to study, to reach a level where losing was a rarity. She read almost anything she could get her hands on, anything that could give her an edge, that could maybe be useful.

So you can imagine her surprise when after all the fighting she did to keep others from Death's door, she practically threw herself in front of it.

It was a little after being promoted to chuunin, her first mission leading a team of genin. Simple C Rank really, just a delivery mission. They had to get a scroll full of medicinal herbs to a small village near Wave. She even got a bit nostalgic thinking of Wave country and that unlucky mission. She should have known that was an omen. It was all too similar. Throw a bit of team 7 luck and you get yourself the worst case scenario.

She doesn't even know who attacked them exactly, or why. She remembers there were about 20 of them and vaguely recalls some Oto hitai-ate, but there were others too. It was all desperation, and instinct and muscle memory. She managed to take down about 5 of them rather quickly since they weren't expecting her punches to create huge craters in the earth, but they soon regrouped and fought harder, smarter.

The genin were terrified and barely able to dodge what was thrown their way. One of them was out already and judging by the dangerously low chakra levels, the other two would soon follow. They weren't a team suitable for combat. None seemed to have experience with fighting.

' _Like us_ ' she thought ' _back then_.' But even they had a better chance. Team 7 had one of the most infamous Leaf jounin, the Rookie of the Year and a Jinchuuriki with almost endless reserves and stamina. This team however, they were nothing like the Rookie 9, who were made of mostly clan heirs that were destined for greatness.

_No._

They were civilian born. A team that was put together probably without much thought to potential or specialisations. Nobody thought they could make it. Since the moment they signed into the Academy they were wrote off as nothing more than cannon fodder. They would graduate close to the middle of the clasament but not quite there and probably join the Genin Corps, retire to live as a civilian again or die on a mission somewhere.

But Sakura will be damned if she let these poor kids die here. She had to get them away. Sakura summoned Katsuyu, making sure to add extra chakra for more smoke, to offer a brief diversion.

' _Take them to Shikkotsu Forest, then contact Tsunade-shishou and reverse summon them to Konoha. I'm pretty sure at least one of them is in the danger zone of chakra depletion. Hurry!_ '

And Katsuyu-sama reacted as fast as she could, but the smoke had dispersed at that point and the enemy nin focused their attacks on the summon and the genin. Sakura created a Mud Wall, attempting to separate them and buy Katsuyu time, but one of them, fast and dangerous and armed with a pair of wakizashi was heading straight for one of the genin, blades ready to rip and tear.

Her chakra usage was amongst the best and she could augment her muscles and increase her speed to a point that only a hiraishin user could surpass, but she was too far, _'When have they gotten so far away?'_ , and the enemies at her back would get her before she could get there. In a last, desperate attempt to protect her teammates, she rapidly performed a Kawarimi, and prayed that it would reach them in time.

One of the Academy 3, simple really. Painfully simple. She switched placed with the kunai the genin was holding shakily in their hand, and before she knew it she was there, and there was pain in her abdomen and lungs, and she could hear the horrified screams of her team before they were whisked away by Lady Katsuyu.

She attempted to send healing chakra to her wounds, but it was getting hard to think and for all the training she did this was a kind of pain she had no experience with. _'You race from Death, only to find it sooner.'_ She thought, a humorless laugh escaping her, before it all went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own either of the franchises.
> 
> If you notice mistakes please notify me. I tried my best to proofread this, but God knows sometimes I just overlook things.
> 
> Please tell me what you think.
> 
> P.S. By the way, the 'You race from death only to fin it sooner' line is a reference to one of Kindred's voice lines from LoL:  
> Wolf: "They race from us!"  
> Lamb: "Only to find us sooner."


	2. Bleeding Questions. Screaming Confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quiet before the storm is perhaps the worst when you don't realise it's happening.  
> Meanwhile, a lone cherry blossom appears out of season.

It was a quiet evening in Musutafu City.

The sun, which was quickly making way to the moon, was casting beautiful shades of pink, orange and purple into the sky. Though the city was gradually being cast into darkness, the people were livelier than ever. The young and the elderly alike were happily going around their business, confident in their safety.

Most street were well lit, one if not more pro heroes were probably patrolling somewhere close, and, even if they weren't, there hasn't been a serious villain related incident in quite some time. There's been the occasional scuffle, an attempted robbery here and there, and just two instances that resulted in a civilian being injured. Apart from that life was peaceful.

Things have been so quiet in fact, that heroes would often be seen looking bored or half asleep. They too became comfortable in this newfound monotonous lifestyle. They would still patrol, as it is their duty, but their senses and reflexes could only be dulled by the lack of use.

So, when someone decided to plant explosives at a gala organised to thank the heroes for their service and highlight the talented newcomers, _no one_ was prepared. Civilians and pro heroes alike were taken by surprise when thunderous booms were heard above them. It was a miracle that the explosions coincided with the moment the guests were called outside to take dinner in the gardens. Most people were either already out or close to the exits.

It took 30 seconds for the building to start falling on top of them. Five more seconds for panic to set in and cause everyone to erratically look for an escape. The Pro-heroes found themselves split between trying to stop the debris, or at least slow down the inevitable collapse of the building, and trying to get the people to safety. That was a job that looked, for all intents and purposes, impossible. They were professionals, however, and through quick thinking and sheer willpower they managed to protect most civilians from the worst of it.

13 people died that day. 9 civilians and 4 aspiring heroes, whose careers never got to flourish. There were 21 injured superficially, and 5 that needed immediate medical attention. And just like that, the world was once more reminded of the very real dangers out there, and whatever peace and quiet settled over the city was quickly snuffed out.  
.........

24 hours earlier, somewhere on the outskirts of the city, hidden behind trees and bushes, lay a prone figure. Silky locks, once a pale pink, were stained by dirt and dried blood, making them look brown. They were splayed around her like a macabre halo. Her face, pale and scrunched in an expression of pain, was raised towards the sky. Laying in a pool of her own blood, clothes shredded and with visible gashes across her torso and abdomen, she painted a scary visage.

Slowly, almost tentatively, soft green light started to envelope her injuries. Her face relaxed a bit, still visibly strained, but better. The light soon died out, too weak to close the injuries completely. Some blood still trickled slowly from the wounds that weren't healed, but it seemed like the worst of them were dealt with.

A groan escaped the still form, seafoam eyes slowly opening. Sakura's vision was blurry and the pain she felt was making it hard for her to focus. She strained her senses, sending the little chakra she had around her. She was alone. Another pained grunt escaped her as her chakra coils screamed in reprimand for being scrapped raw.

It took a bit, but the world finally cleared and she glanced around her. It was dark, and her reserves were too empty to spare anything to enhanced her eyesight. She closed her eyes at the splitting headache she had.

_'Okay.'_ She thought. _'Let's start small. Nothing missing. Still got all my limbs, eyes still there, ears intact and functioning. My nose hurts but I don't think it's broken. It works too.'_ Sakura focused her awareness inward. _'2 ribs are at least cracked, if not broken. No internal bleeding. Weird. I thought that bastard got me with his swords.'_ As far as she could tell she had some flesh wounds that have yet to close. She must have healed herself while unconscious.

She waited a few minutes for some strength to return to her and proceeded to slowly, _very_ slowly, get up. She couldn't tell where the enemy nin went or why they left her alive. She only hoped the kids got home safely.

Looking around her she realised she didn't recognise the area. Sakura could hear noises coming from somewhere to her left so she quietly made her way there.

The sight that welcomed her was enough of a shock that she nearly tripped on her own feet. Buildings taller that even the Hokage Tower back in Konoha, built in a style unfamiliar to her, and made of wood, and glass, and cement. The village(?) stretched well into the horizon. Konoha couldn't possibly compare size wize. Sakura didn't think any hidden village could.

She forcefully ripped her eyes away from the sight and focused back to her surroundings. There were people on the streets. They were dressed more civilian than anything a shinobi would wear. Now that she thought about it she couldn't spot any ninja around, no hitai-ate or other identifying marks. She knew she shouldn't force her coils but she tentatively tried to sense for any prominent chakra signatures. There was nothing. Or, if there was, it was too small or well hidden for her to sense. The people on the streets seemed to have undeveloped, almost nonexistent chakra.

She turned sharp eyes back to the civilians. She needed to get closer, her vision was still all over the place. She headed for the roof of what she guessed was a house. _'With all the weird architecture you can never know.'_ Thought Sakura.

The closer she got the more she started to notice the strange features some of the people had. The moment she noticed whiskers, and scales and fur she had to stop and lean on a wall to regain her balance. _'What the..?'_ All her brain functions have screeched to a stop. She made her way to the closest street and just stared. And stared. And she would feel bad about it but some people stopped to stare at her too.

She must have made quite the sight. Pale and bloody, clothes ripped and looking like she saw a ghost.

"- Miss?"

_'What?'_ She thought the hundredth time. Very intelligent, Sakura. Good job. Smooth brain.

"Are you okay, Miss?" Someone said to her right. "Can you hear me?"

Sakura turned to the source of the voice,.... only to be met with the head of a ginger tabby.  
She almost screamed. She really did. More concerning, she almost pulled out a kunai. She didn't think they would appreciate that.

"What?" Sakura croaked. Again, smooth brain.

"What happened, Miss? Are you okay?" The cat asked.

Her brain finally caught up with her. This is her chance to get some answers.

"I, um, yes. Yes." She cleared her throat. "Could you please tell me where this is?" Sakura asked gesturing wildly around her.

"Musutafu City, miss. Are you sure you're okay?" He(?) looked at her dubiously. "You seem to be hurt."

"Yeah, yeah... we'll come back to that later. Can you tell me how far away Konoha is? Or any major village? So I can get an idea of where exactly I am?"

"Konoha? Never heard of it." The cat replied.

"Suna?"

"No."

"Kumo?"

"Cloud? What?"

"Kiri? Grass? Wave? Tea?" Sakura started to frantically list all the countries she could think of.

"Slow down, Miss. I don't know what you're talking about. Are yo-"

"The Elemental Nations? Does that sound familiar?"

The confused look on the cats face was answer enough.

"Sorry. I seem to be a little disoriented." _'Thank your lucky stars you barely look like yourself, covered in all this dirt and blood. At least if he were to tell people about the weird gory little girl that was spouting nonsense they wouldn't recognise you.'_ "You are right. I _am_ hurt. Could you point me to the nearest hospital?"

The cat pointed to somewhere behind him.  
"It's kinda far away. You shouldn't be moving around if all this blood is yours. I'll give you a ride. My name is Sansa Tamakawa, police officer." Tamakawa-san reached his hand out, obviously wanting to shake hands.

Sakura's own shaking hand grasped his. "Right. Pleasure. Really. I'm..." Sakura's pause went unnoticed. "Hinata. And, uh, it's quite alright. I'll manage by myself." She finished quickly and before Officer Tawakawa could react she disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Some streets away and heading towards the hospital (at least she assumed the big building in the distance was the hospital), Sakura was slowly shedding her bloody clothes. Sneaking into an alley she quickly sealed her clothes into a scroll and got a t-shirt and a pair of black pants out. She wiped away as much of the dirt and blood as she could with the water from the bottles she had. She couldn't afford people getting more suspicious.

Looking relatively normal, Sakura resumed her walk towards the hospital. With every step she took it became apparent that just making herself look less gory was not going to be enough. She has no identification, no way of explaining why she is hurt, she doesn't exist as far as these people know. Sakura can't very well walk into the hospital, demand a place to rest and perhaps some bandages, then refuse to offer any information about herself (or at least information that they can verify). If this hospital works in any way similar to the one in Konoha then she knows this is not going to work.

She'll just have to stay there without them knowing. Sakura needs a bed and some bandages. That's it. Considering the lack of a developed chakra system, she doubts that they could just close the remaining of her wounds (which still bleed softly from time to time, good thing the t-shirt is the darkest of reds). Her mind made, she decided to use the little chakra that has recovered to place a low genjutsu on herself. She doubts they would see through it.

Walking straight through the hospitals doors with no one none the wiser, she sets off searching for a room to stay in. She chooses a room on the third floor, with a single bed and a window in case she has to leave. It also has a bathroom and an emergency exit just down the hall. Perfect. First things first she located some clean bandages and made her way to the bathroom to clean the rest of herself but most importantly the wounds. After that is all done and she once more looks like her pink self, Sakura places another genjutsu on the door so she won't be disturbed.

Inside the room she rechecks her bandages, while looking around to familiarise herself with the environment. There are at least 11 things she could use as weapons if need be. With that in mind she placed her weapons pouch and her scrolls near the bed. There is a clock on the bedside table. It reads 20:13.

That is the last thing Sakura sees before her head hits the pillow and she is out like a light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own either of the franchises.
> 
> If you notice mistakes please notify me. I tried my best to proofread this, but God knows sometimes I just overlook things.
> 
> Please tell me what you think.


	3. To Do No Harm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do stargazing and medicine have in common?  
> The mentor-apprentice bond might be deeper than anyone thought.  
> And whoever said the storm was over?

Chakra depletion is a very serious issue for any active duty shinobi. One's reserves and control over their chakra pretty much determine what kind of shinobi they are, their possible specialisations, what role they play in a team and their survival rate should they be alone against enemy nin. One always has to be mindful of their reserves and shape their strategies and fighting styles to complete their task with minimal chakra usage.

The first time Team 7 encountered chakra exhaustion was on the Wave mission. Seeing their sensei collapse and mostly be bedridden for almost a week was a shock to all of them, but none was as troubled by it as pink-haired, civilian born Haruno Sakura. The general consensus regarding 12 year old Sakura was that she was a smart but pretty much incompetent kunoichi when it came to anything related to stamina, strength, or techniques above C rank, and even those took a toll on her.

Truly, at that point, she was already shedding her fangirl persona and was far smarter and observant then anyone believed her to be. She always told herself that appearing weak would be her advantage, but she became too comfortable with that idea and started neglecting her training to the point she was actually as weak as she appeared. The survival test was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was the wake-up call she needed to start prioritising her training again.

With that thought in mind, Sakura realised meditation and chakra exercises will need to become her best friends. Naruto, for all his bullheadedness and loud, hyperactive personality, had almost never-ending reserves. The number of clones he creates can testify to that. He won't have to worry about depletion any time soon. Sasuke too had above average reserves and his control, while nowhere close to Sakura's, was still better than Naruto's, so he would last in a battle. She, however, had small, insignificant reserves. Sakura would be the first one to collapse should she engage in open combat.

Her time spent under Tsunade's hard, unforgiving gaze helped immensely with her reserves. If she'd have trained alone, without guidance and a strong hand to always push her beyond her limits, Sakura doesn't think she would have made it. She needed someone to believe in her and ask for more, not someone that would write her off as a paper ninja and ask for the bare minimum like Kakashi-sensei did.  
........

_'You want me to train you? Do you even know what that means, Sakura? I won't cuddle you, pat your head like a damned pet, say good job and call it a day everytime you as much as show signs of exhaustion. You will stop when I allow you to stop. You will train until I tell you to stop training. Hell, don't you even dare collapse or faint if I don't allow it! This isn't the play pretend you did at the Academy, or that poor excuse of training you did with Hatake. You wake up, sweat, bleed and hurt all over, go back to sleep only to wake up to do it all over again. Understood?'_ _Tsunade Shishou said firmly, eyes never straying from her own._   
.......

How could she refuse? For the first time ever someone took her seriously and looked beyond the pink hair, civilian background and small stature. She never regretted saying yes, not when she came home bruised, not when she couldn't sleep more than 2 hours because of all the materials she had to study, not even when she started strength training and broke the bones in her arm repeatedly in an attempted to mimic Tsunade's power.

The point is, Sakura has encountered and experienced chakra exhaustion quite a lot. She would have patients that barely managed to come back to the village before collapsing, or she would have stupid pregenin and genin that think testing their limits was a fun and exciting idea.  
.........

_'Let me get this straight. You saw a jounin practice a A rank fire jutsu, somehow, miraculously managed to memorise the hand signs and thought it would be a great idea to try said jutsu in your house?' Sakura asked, equal parts amused and exasperated._

_'Yes?' At least he had mind to look ashamed._

_'The house that's made of wood?'_

_'Yes.'_

_'That's surrounded by other houses, also very flammable.'_

_The boy didn't even deign to answer anymore, he was just stuck looking and feeling like an idiot._

_'Let's move past that and the fact that you somehow made it out alive by sheer dumb luck. With burns, chakra depletion and a chakra system turned on its head, but alive. What made you think that it was a good idea for an Academy student, that has barely started learning how to manipulate chakra mind you, to try such an advanced jutsu?'_

_The boy opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted. '- unsupervised' He opened his mouth. '- in a house made of wood.' And then promptly closed it. There was no way to make that not sound stupid._  
........

By experiencing and dealing with chakra exhaustion so often, Sakura's body has gotten better at healing from it. It is still highly dangerous, especially if there's no one there to watch out for complications, and still hard for her body to deal with rebuilding her reserves, considering that even when almost empty, Sakura still has a little amount of chakra go towards her seal.

She doesn't want to die, but damn it all she has some months to go before the Byakugo Seal is complete and Sakura won't let no chakra exhaustion ruin all her hard work.

So when she woke up, feeling a weird mixture of tired and rested and looked at the clock to see 20:21, she was understandably confused. Blood loss and low chakra reserves don't just fix themselves in a matter of minutes. Sakura slowly got out of bed. Her internal clock told her she's been asleep for a while. She was probably under for a whole day.

As she got her last clean change of clothes from her scroll Sakura thought of her situation. She was on a simple, she scoffed, C rank mission as a chuunin team leader. They were attacked by otogakure nin alongside some other, markless, no hitai-ate, shinobi. 'They were strong, well trained.' She thought. 'Though I can't say they were prepared. They didn't seem to know of my skills. Their surprise was genuine when I used my strength. So what was their purpose? Were they simply supposed to attack any team that crossed their way? Were their uninformed about who they were supposed to go after? Perhaps she was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time.'

Considering Team 7's ability to attract danger, problems and improbable, ridiculous situations, that was highly possible. 'I'm sure one of them pretty much impaled me. So how did I get here? Wherever this fever dream of a place is.'  
She looked around the room. 'I don't remember seeing any hand signs, or hearing any jutsus.'   
Just to be sure she quickly concentrated and muttered "KAI!" determinately, under her breath. No genjutsu, at least none that she could detect.   
...........

She was a genjutsu type, with out of this world chakra control, so even if she is not very practiced in the art of weaving an illusion, she can very easily detect one.

Many people wouldn't believe her if she said anything, but Kurenai-sensei can be very mischievous and downright petty sometimes, _if_ she feels slighted in any way. Whenever Sakura attempted to bring up the issue of giving Kurenai-san the required shots, she would continuously find herself under layers of genjutsu. Mostly C ranks really. When she threatened to use force or tell Shizune-senpai and Tsunade-sama, Sakura would have to fight off higher ranked genjutsu as payment. That is how she found out that she can easily break out of most C and B ranks. As for A ranks, she has some difficulty disrupting them, but still the detecting part was easy.   
............

'Whatever this is it seems very much real.'

Sakura's attention was drawn to the growing noise coming from outside. After fishing her clothes out and changing, she got up to walk around the bed and towards the window. Peeking cautiously around the curtains Sakura was greeted with an ever-expanding crowd of people at the hospital's entrance. They were tripping over themselves, pushing and shoving others away in an attempt to get through the doors. Guards were quickly stationed at the door to keep everyone at bay.

If not for the window and the distance between them and her, Sakura thinks the shouts would be deafening.

"My son.. is he safe? He was at the Gala!"

"Why won't you tell us what's happening? We know you brought the wounded here!"

"How about the dead? We have a right to know if our families are safe!"

"Let us see them!!"

Sakura couldn't help but be reminded of the Oto and Suna invasion, the panic that overcame everyone after. Many people lost their homes, their friends and families, their teammates and colleagues. Perhaps it was all made worse by the lack of certainty. Everyone was focused on rebuilding and doing back-to-back missions to bring in funds. The hospital, at the time, lacked organisation and prepared personnel. There was simply too much to do and informing the people of their loved ones' status was not a priority.

'Hope they get their answers soon.' Sakura thought emphatically, remembering her own panic and nervousness when she didn't hear from her parents for almost a week after the invasion.

Sakura's reminiscing was interrupted two pairs of footsteps. They stopped right outside her door. Her genjutsu was still up so she wasn't too worried.

"Why are we here? We should be helping the other nurses with the patients. The hospital wasn't prepared for such an influx so a lot of the staff has already gone home." One voice, a female, said to the other person.

"They can handle themselves for a little bit. Don't be such a downer. I just wanted to talk in a more quiet place. Get the gossip before anyone else. Now come one, tell me _everything."_ The second one, also a female, answered.

"I'm sorry? What exactly should I be telling you about?"

"Oh come on. The Gala?"

"I know just as much as everyone else. They brought in the injured some 20 minutes ago. You came back just as they were rushing the worst of them to get emergency surgery."

"Really?! URGH! The best things happen exactly when I decide to go to the bathroom?"

"Lower your voice!" The first one whisper yelled. "You can't be heard talking like that. If Doctor Igarashi hears you, he'll make sure it goes in your record."

"Leave that man-child out of this. I'm here for the juicy intel. You're the head nurse, you know more than any of us. You all had a meeting right before the injured arrived. Surely you were informed of what and who to expect. Any heroes among the patients?" The first one, Bitch as Sakura calls her now, kept pushing.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to-"

"Pleeeease!!! I just had a pretty shitty day. This would make up for it." Sakura could practically picture the ugly pout that accompanied that statement.

"I-uh fine. Look I can't give you a lot. There were some heroes. They are all being taken care of as we speak. The one they just rushed to the operating room was one."

"How serious is it?"

"Burns all over his arms and torso. I think he got stuck under some debris. He broke some ribs because of the impact, probably some internal damage too. When they got him out, they were afraid to move him too fast, in case he punctured his lung. He twisted his ankle too, so when the flames reached the room he was in he couldn't get away, stuck and hurt as he was."

"Can the doctors even do anything for that? Sound reeeally bad."

"That's what I'm wondering too. Recovery Girl is heading this way, but she was in another city when the news reached her. She may be able to save him, but who knows if she'll get here on time."

"The odds aren't in his favour, huh? Looks like he ain't gonna make it." That tone was weirdly happy for the topic at hand, and if Sakura wasn't creeped out by that, the fact that the nurse started to giggle after that definitely raised some red flags.

"What? Why are you giggling? This is no way of reacting?"

"What about the other people? The rest that were brought in?" 'Bitch', abruptly changed the subjects.

"Most of them had mild burns, bruises, some cuts maybe. They suffer from shock, as it's to be expected. There were just four others with worrying injuries, but nowhere near as bad as this guy. This one other person woke up enough to demand that they put them in the same room."

"With as bad as his injuries are the only room I see him in is the morgue." The woman chuckled.

"Ami! This is no laughing matter!" The other woman chastised, shock and a bit of anger clear in her voice. 'Ami.' Sakura scoffs. 'Figures.'

"I agree." A new person joined the conversation, this time, a man. To Sakura he sounded like he was barely containing his anger. The two women jumped a bit. "Doctor Igarashi!"

"Oh so it was you, Ami! I thought I heard some annoying buzzing."

Ami started to stutter and Sakura can only guess she got red in the face, whether from embarrassment or indignation who knows.

"W-w-what!! You- How dare yo-" Ami stopped abruptly, like something physically gagged her, though some muffled sounds could still be heard.

"Uh uh uh. I believe you, my dear, already met your bullshit quota for the day. No more! Shh."

Some ungodly screeching followed that statement. Sakura could barely stop her chuckles. Whoever this doctor is, he is officially her newest hero.

"And don't worry. The patient is stable. For now, at least. I did all I could to encourage his body to heal. We are currently moving him to the room right down the hall. He _and_ his friend will be safe and comfortable until Recovery Girl arrives. We put them both under for the time being. Unless there are complications, I believe he'll hold onto life 'till help arrives. He's a fighter you know? Almost lost him once or twice." The doctor, Igarashi, sounded way to chipper for someone who, a few moments ago, reprimanded, insulted and gagged a nurse.

"All this negative energy around the hospital right now is making me hungry. You hungry too?"

"Actually we-"

"You are?! Perfect. We can go together. That way you don't stick around long enough to find out the patients' identities so you can go gossip about them. Really why they hired you I'll never understand." His tone was still too happy for what he was saying. He was heading away from the door and towards the main stairs. From the shuffling, stumbling and slight vocalisations of disagreement it appeared like he was dragging the two nurses with him.

"I heard they're making fresh donuts in the cafeteria! I wonder if they are going to make them in the shape of stars if I ask nicely. Do you like stars? I love them. Actually when I was-" He was now too far away for Sakura to make out what he was saying.

Well, that was entertaining. Seems like she's going to get some neighbours. Sakura is already curious about them, might as well stay and check things out. With that in mind she went back to the window to look at the world outside.

'An attack, eh? This really does remind me of the Suna/Oto invasion.'

She needs a plan. The world is hectic at the moment, and she'll have to be that much more careful about not arousing any kind of suspicion. People ought to be jumpy, and security might tighten after such an event.

'I have no idea how this place works.' Sakura thought, sighing. 'We speak the same language at least. The buildings seem similar, although on a much bigger scale. Even the hospital is familiar in the way it works, like taking the chakra usage out of a hospital back home. Just civilians.'

Sakura thought she heard some people make their way down the hall. 'My neighbours are moving in. How exciting.' There was no small amount of sarcasm in that thought. Sakura is just so tired all of a sudden. Just thinking about her situation, about how far from home she must be and how she'll have to deal with this by herself is enough to darken her mood.

'I have no identification that they'll recognise. Whatever money I have on me might be useless here. Oh well. I'll wing it I guess. Just have to be careful about it."

Sakura continued to ponder her predicament for a while. By the time she got up to gather her things and fix up the room a bit, she already had made up her mind to pay the patients a visit. She's a medic and a bleeding heart on top of that. She loves to help. It's in her nature.

She already made her way out the door and down the hallway. The people that brought them to the room left at least 10 minutes ago.

'Shishou would tell me to not get involved.' Sakura smiled fondly.  
..........

_'It's good to save people Sakura, but never do it at the expense of your life or if it puts you or your teammates in danger. I know you don't like that. I know I never did, but you are too important to lose. Call me blunt, but there is no other way of saying that. I can't recall the number of times I was pulled from a mission or not allowed to go at all if they thought it was too dangerous. Kami forbid that I try to heal anyone that didn't have their background checked three times over. Ha! Like I couldn't protect myself.' Tsunade's smile dimmed a bit._

_'Even when I got the title of Sannin, the elders of my Clan, the council......even my damned teammates, still tried to keep me away from most things. The only reason I was that involved with the war was that I made a reputation for myself. The public expected me to be on the front lines, to raise morale and heal the injured so they could return home to their families. If not for that they would have forced me to stay in a medical tent somewhere.' Tsunade took a deep breath and looked Sakura right in the eyes._

_'I was the Senju Princess, their heir, with medical knowledge and chakra control unmatched by anyone. I_ _**had** _ _to stay alive. I was too important. There could be children in front of me dying, and they would have me stay away and watch rather then risk myself. Don't get me wrong, I never cared for their rules, and if I could help someone I would, but with time I realised that I am more useful alive than dead. I can save more lives and help more people if I don't die because of my bleeding heart. I had to watch some people die, had to leave other to suffer simply because it was too risky to get involved.'_

_'But Shishou, you're you! You belong to a clan; you're related to the Shodaime and the Nidaime. I can understand that, but I'm just a civilian born, nowhere near as important-' Sakura tried to argue. The idea of willingly denying someone treatment was too much for her. She was, however, rather abruptly interrupted._

_'You are Sakura Haruno-Senju! The ritual I had you do few weeks ago was not some mentor- apprentice tradition like I told you. That was a Senju blood adoption. A way of claiming you as family and a big 'fuck you' to the elders. The blood of the Senju flows through you now, alongside that of your parents._ _**You** _ _are related to three Hokages._ _**You** _ _have better chakra control than me, maybe even than my grandfather, and are quickly advancing towards surpassing me.' Tsunade saw some smugness mixed with all the shock on Sakura's face._

_'Now don't you dare get cocky! That's years away. But that does not change anything. You are, by blood, my....daughter... now. The Godaime's daughter, the Shodaime's great-granddaughter and the Nidaime's great-grandniece. The Senju heir, with amazing talent in medical ninjutsu, out of this world chakra control and soon I'll teach you how to use my strength to topple mountains. The blood adoption also started to steadily grow your reserves to match an actual clan kid. In a year or so you will no longer feel the difference between you and your year mates.'_

_Tsunade literally lifted her to be on the same eye level and shook her. 'You are important. Irreplaceable. You_ _**will** _ _be careful, and you_ _**will** _ _pick your battles. I will not lose another family member! You want to save people so badly then be smart about it. Going headfirst into trouble is Naruto's thing, not yours!'_   
_..........._

Sakura understands her Shishou's point and will always try to follow her advice. Now though, she is mentally tired and stressed and just wants to do something that is familiar, something she is good at and can control. It's not like some civilians could possibly pose a threat. Judging by the lack of chakra she can guess that they have no knowledge of it and how it works so she has an advantage.

Not to mention his injuries really are serious and without chakra Sakura isn't sure how much they could do for that, even if this 'Recovery Girl' is heading this way.

Just as she touched the door handle Sakura sensed someone already inside. How distracted was she that she didn't notice earlier? The logical part of her brain told her to leave, but her shinobi instincts told her something wasn't right. Sakura opened the door. The room was practically succumbed into darkness. Next to a bed and looming over the person in it was a nurse. It wasn't long before Sakura noticed something wrong with the picture.

The nurse barely had any kind of presence. No smell, no sounds and everytime Sakura looked at her or thought of her it was like her mind was flooded with other thoughts, trying to make her forget what she saw. No wonder she had a hard time sensing her before. Whatever she is doing is like a combination of a camouflage genjutsu, a misdirection one and the privacy seals Tsunade has in her office. Really the only thing she could sense was some chakra but even the small amount seemed to be suppressed.

Sakura used the same technique one would to break out of a genjutsu. It worked. The next time she focused on the girl she could clearly see that she was injecting something into the patient.

Sakura didn't even stop to think about it. In two seconds flat she had the nurse immobilised and threw her against the wall like a ragdoll. The nurse looked shocked for a bit, then pained, but soon she started laughing maniacally. "I don't know how you saw through my Quirk, but you're too late to save him. Not that there was a lot to save to begin with, I think he'd have died either way. Just thought I should make sure he does." Sakura slammed her again.

"What did you give him? Who do you work for?" Sakura hissed.

"The league will be overjoyed to know their plan worked and they managed to kill a few of them!! I don't even know what I used! He said he'd be proud if I managed to do this. Said I'd advance through the ranks, win his favour!! Said-" she never got to finish as Sakura knocked her out. Too much fanaticism for her liking.

Sakura quickly got up. Before she rushed to the man's side she couldn't help but notice the name tag attached to the nurse's clothes.

'Bitch'.


	4. Poisonous Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First attempts are always the scariest.  
> At least on nurse is getting fired.  
> And some people are just done.

Sakura really regrets not taking up poisons and antidotes earlier in her apprenticeship. She barely started about 2 months ago and whilst she already memorised everything she could on the subject, she doesn't have a lot of practical experience. She has yet to attempt a poison extraction, so she is quite a bit out of her depth.

Which is why she ended up literally restraining the patient 5 minutes into examining him. After knocking out Miss Fanatic over there, Yamada-san, as she came to discover from his file, woke up suddenly, obviously affected by the pain and the meds, only to start writhing and furiously scratching the arm in which he got injected.

Sakura, the ever over-prepared shinobi she is, had some silencing seals with her and quickly slapped one on the door when he started yelling, not wanting anyone to come and check things out. She attempted to reason with him at first, ask him to stop and let her examine him, but the scratching only got worse and he started drawing blood. She tried knocking him out but whatever he was feeling kept waking him up. The only thing she had on her that could be used to tie someone up was her ninja wire, but with how erratic he was that would only hurt him. So, she got up close and personal, careful to avoid his injuries of course, and did something Tsunade-sama told her to use only on the most difficult of patients...she paralysed him from neck down.

When all that was over she quickly scanned his arm to see what happened. Whatever he got injected with was clearly a type of poison, though not one she has encountered before. It was quickly making its way up his arm, apparently irritating everything it touched, which caused extreme tingling and itchiness. Sakura didn't have a lot of time to analyse this however, as the poison had unknown effects and she couldn't risk them setting in.

She's never done this before. Poison extraction is an extremely complex technique, done usually under supervision, with nurses and chakra pills at the ready. Sakura couldn't think about that, though; his life was at stake.

Mind practically numb with panic and determination, she went through the steps almost mechanically. She rushed through the room to find two empty bowls or anything that could be used as one. She ended up with one actual bowl and a bucket, which she quickly filled with water. Returning to the patient's side, she got to work. Making a small incision, Sakura tried her best to direct the water to where the poison was. Finding it was pretty easy since it never strayed from its set path, but encasing it in the water and dragging it out proved to be tricky. It just wasn't working how it was supposed to, the poison itself seemed to try its hardest to stick to the surrounding tissue and cells whenever she tried pulling it out and it ended up actually harming the area a little bit. Never a good sign.

Yamada-san, now past the scratching phase apparently, was staring at everything around him like they were out to get him. Sakura recognised from the hormones that were being released he was feeling extreme fear and paranoia and that only got worse when she started the extraction. The poison, which was weirdly sticking together, not one drop of it spreading to other areas, was now close to his neck.

It was just about to enter the carotid artery when she finally figured out she had to fluctuate her chakra a bit around the poison to get it to release the tissues and cells, so she wouldn't end up extracting them too. Sakura managed to get all of it at once, exercising more chakra usage and control than ever before, and started dragging it backwards towards the incision. It wasn't helping that Yamada-san's heart was practically attempting to escape through his chest, which meant that blood was being pumped faster.

When some of the poison was beginning to escape, 'How is it fighting back!?', Sakura wasn't sure she could go back for it, not with how the rest of it was resisting. But then, a voice in her head, that sounded suspiciously like Naruto, started to chant _You can do it_ and _Believe it_ , so Sakura, in a very un-Sakura move, attempted something she hasn't seen anyone do before - two extractions at the same time. She almost knocked the bucket over when she reached her left hand to get more of the water. She barely remembered to do another incision, this time higher. And so, she found herself splitting her concentration between getting what poison she had out and reaching the bits that escaped.

It wasn't easy. Hell, it probably was the most complicated thing she's ever attempted. It wasn't as draining on her chakra reserves as she thought it would be, she still has plenty of it to go, but the control needed, even for someone like her, was grueling.

Sakura wondered if this is how Naruto and Sasuke felt when they were learning to tree walk. Sweat was gathering on her brows, and her hands were starting to shake, but eventually she got the first round of poison out, dropping it in the bowl. With one of her hands now free, dealing with the rest was considerably easier.

When all was said and done, Sakura felt like collapsing, which she almost did, if not for the whimpers she heard from underneath her. Fully alert now, she focused back on Yamada-san. He must have passed out sometime during the procedure. His body was already under a lot of stress from his wounds and adding the strain from the poison and the extraction... well, things were far from over.

After scanning his body to make sure all traces of the poison are gone and that there weren't any side effects, she discovered that no, there was no more poison, but the irritating effect it had on everything in its way was still there. She was not sure what exactly caused this, so all she could do was soothe the cells a bit, enough to make the itchiness and tingling bearable. After that Sakura turned her attention to the rest of his wounds. The doctor wasn't sure if Yamada-san would hold on until 'Recovery Girl' arrived, and she wasn't about to take any chances.

She started with his arm. The burns were already bad, and the scratching definitely didn't help. Sakura removed the bandages, all the while using her chakra to disinfect the wounds and mostly close them. It wasn't good to force the body to heal fully, so there was still some redness to his arm, but that should heal by itself and it won't even leave a mark. Sakura repeated the process with his other arm and the burns on his torso. There was no internal damage, though she could tell there was some internal bleeding that the doctors must have taken care of. She just did a double check and reduced any scarring she could find. Yamada-san would definitely feel some pain and tenderness for a while. His ribs were also healing. Still, Sakura strengthened them a bit.

With all of that out of the way, the only things left were some minor cuts, bruises and the sprained ankle. Again, avoiding doing everything for the body, Sakura helped the healing process a bit. Sakura noticed that all the cells around the wounds have been previously stimulated and encouraged to heal faster.

_'And don't worry. The patient is stable. For now, at least. I did all I could to encourage his body to heal.'_

'I see. So that doctor did this. Perhaps they aren't civilians as I thought. But there are no chakra remnants in his body. Whatever he did, it did not require chakra.'

There was a shuffling sound to the right. There, in another bed, was the other patient, the one that asked to be put together with Yamada-san. His dark hair was in disarray around him, and his face was set in a grimace. After checking on her chakra levels and finding them sufficient, Sakura went over there and did a diagnosis jutsu. Seems like nothing too serious. A broken arm, some cuts and bruises, minor burns and quite the concussion, probably the reason he was not up and running by now.

Sakura fixed his arm and made sure none of the injuries scarred. The concussion was mostly dealt with, not fully though, since she wanted to preserve some of her chakra in case she'll need it.

Well, her work is almost done now. Sakura is aware that someone ought to come and check on the patients soon, so she has to make this quick. She found some sticky notes and a pencil and walked to the unconscious figure sagging against the wall.

Sakura sent some chakra to her brain to wake her up. "Hey! Wakey-wakey, little fanatic you! I need your help with something. But before that-" Sakura remembered from her mad search for bowls that one of the cabinets had duct tape, so she found it, ripping a piece with her teeth and taping the nurse's mouth shut.

"-Doctor Igarashi did say you met your bullshit quota for the day so..." Afterwards, Sakura made sure to tape her legs together. Ami's muffled scream went unnoticed.

Sakura threw the pencil and the sticky notes to her. "You're going to write what I tell you, got it?"

............

Aizawa had a killer headache, felt like the doctors definitely messed up the dosage for his meds and had more questions than answers.

He was barely conscious when the girl, at least he thinks it was a girl since it was too dark to make out details, seemingly slammed a shadow(?) into the wall. 'Nothing too important' said his foggy mind. The last thing he heard before he fell back asleep was a "What did you give him!?", which — admittedly — should have worried him, but he was tired, so... There's that.

The next time Aizawa woke up, he was a bit more aware of what was going on around him. He did his best to stay still and keep his breathing pattern slow. The intruders were still in the room and alerting them while injured and on meds was not a good idea.

One of them was sprawled against the wall, and the other was looming over Hizashi. The soft green light that enveloped her hands was enough to... well, tell that it's a her, but he still couldn't make out any of her features. She had her back turned slightly to him. 'Pretty reckless, leaving you back unprotected.' But, he supposed, it was either with her back to him or the other person, and he was apparently deemed the lesser threat. No, that didn't make him bitter, why do you ask?

He was starting to get sleepy again, and it was hard to focus. His eyes closed and he passed out again, but not before seeing a hand that was lit green advancing towards him.

............

Today was a shitty day, _just how the horoscope said!_

First, he forgot to hug his cats before leaving for work. Then, when he arrived, already sullen and depressed because what kind of horrible cat owner does that, he found out the lovely people from the cafeteria decided to make donuts. DONUTS! And so, he eagerly awaited his first break, dreaming of food and thinking up ways of making his cats forgive him, only for all the staff to be informed they had 30 minutes tops to get ready for an influx of patients. That was followed by an emergency operation and when said operation was done, he had to deal with such disrespect for the healing career from that nurse - Ami. He didn't mean to react like he did. He hates conflict of any kind. He would rather avoid fighting and arguing, but he has no tolerance for behavior like that.

Truly, the world was out to get him.

The donuts were delicious, though. Feeling slightly better he went looking for the head nurse, the one he specifically assigned to supervising the patient and keeping him updated on his condition. Now that he thought about it, Shunsui has not heard from her in almost an hour.

'Now don't worry Shunsui. Surely if there was an emergency, she would call you. Maybe she got distracted and forgot to check in every half an hour like I told her.' He went to run a hand through his hair, but stopped when he felt something begin to slide off. 'My headband. I forgot about it.'

Sighing, he headed for the elevator. Some other people were gathered in front of it. Collectively, they turned around when they heard someone approaching and zeroed in on his headband. Snickers and quiet, whispered conversations followed. Really, he's been wearing it for the past month, but everytime it's the same.

Regarding the people around him with his usual smile and laid back attitude, Shunsui lifted his hand in a small wave. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone attempting to become one with the wall or skrink into nothingness or... something. Well, she looks awfully familiar.

"Why are you not with the patients?"

Startled, the guilty party turned towards him, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Silence ensued.

"Well? I asked for updates every half an hour. Did something happen?"

"No. W-well you see. I don't- I don't-"

"You don't?"

"KNOW!" And then quieter. "I don't know, Sir. I was asked by Ami if she could do it instead. She's been there this entire time."

Shunsui didn't really have the time to reprimand her. Hurrying towards the room they were in and being followed by a curious and slightly worried head nurse, he reached the door in record time. Opening it, he felt himself sag in relief. Both patients were still there.

Turning slightly to the left he was greeted by a furious pair of eyes and muffled yells. There, on the wall, secured with a copious amount of duct tape, was Ami. Her mouth was taped shut and there were sticky notes all around her. His eyes immediately went to the one on her forehead that said 'I am a traitorous Bitch'.

After telling the head nurse to call the police, and assuring her that they will have a talk when all of this is over, he made sure the patients were actually ok. To his surprise they were better than ok. Their injuries were almost gone, save for some minor ones, and he was sure his quirk didn't to that. After, he went and examined the notes. The more he read the bigger his eyes got. They were a report of sorts. It was written by Ami, he was sure, but someone else was speaking.

Ami had apparently tried to kill Yamada-san. The notes go on to explain some things about the poison, the reactions it drew from the patient, where it was heading. A note mentioned the irritating factor and how they (the hospital staff) should look into that.

Then Shunsui got to the part where this person had to extract the poison, looking to the bedside table to see that yes, there was some of it left there in a jar. The burns, the broken ribs, the cuts were all healed by them, or mostly healed, as they emphasised the importance of letting the body finish the healing naturally.

He heard some shuffling from one of the beds. Turning around, he saw Aizawa-san, blanket roled around him like a cocoon with only his face visible, staring blankly at the still screaming and trashing Ami.

"What the fuck?"


	5. Of Lost Souls And How To Deal With Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The latest events need to be addressed.  
> The Moon gains a new member.  
> And waking up is more confusing than usual.

Aizawa could feel another headache forming. After the fiasco that was the Gala, all he wanted to do was pass out in a bed and wake up when all the problems were already over and done with. He wanted to wake up rested, healed and with a loud radio host energetically screaming in his ear. Then, he would silence said radio host, arrange the blanket around him a bit, and go back to sleep.

Instead, he spent his time in and out of consciousness, with two intruders in his room, a possibly dying Hizashi, and woke up still tired, only to find his problems have actually multiplied.

Three days later, grumpiness level through the roof, Aizawa was stuck in a meeting with the police, some of the hospital staff, Nezu and way too many pro-heroes if the noise was anything to go by.

"If you would all quiet down, we can proceed with the matter at hand." Said Nezu, tone calm yet demanding that they listened.

"Which is? No offence principal, but many of us were called here without an explanation." Ectoplasm voiced what most people there were thinking. Nemuri was nodding sagely in the background, murmuring something about 'interrupting a good time' and 'such a waste of youth'.

"The aftermath of the attack is still being dealt with. The people expect even more from us now, and we are here instead of out there patrolling." Endeavor's voice boomed, tone angry and face set in an annoyed expression. The usual.

"And there is a very good reason for that, I assure you. I am aware that that your work schedule is very demanding on the best of days, even more so now. I did not bring you here to waste anyone's time." The principal cleared his throat. Everyone finally settled down. "There has been an incident at the hospital on the night of the attack. One of the hospital staff poisoned Yamada-san." And he stopped there. No other details, no explanation.

"I think, Principal, that you forgot an important bit of information. Hizashi is very much alive." Aizawa droned before the room could once again erupt into chaos.

The atmosphere instantly lightened, though everyone still seemed worried. Nezu sipped his tea and gestured for the police to start their explanation.

"Uh- Right! The culprit has been apprehended. A nurse by the name of Ami was found at the scene-"

"She was taped to the wall." Shunsui decided to add. The policeman glared a bit in annoyance, but Shunsui merely smiled.

"Yes. The nurse was found taped to one of the walls. There were also multiple notes placed around her, detailing the events prior to us arriving. According to them and her own words, she was the one to make an attempt at Yamada-san's life. We found another syringe containing the poison in her locker." He finished, looking nervously around him. He was new to this ok? And the wink Midnight sent his way definitely didn't help with his nerves.

"If we already know who did it, and we have them in custody, why call us here?" Asked Best Jeanist.

"Who wrote the notes?"

Everyone turned towards Aizawa. "The question here... well, there are actually two big questions that need to be answered. What was the poison? We don't know its purpose or its full effects. Not to mention we do not have an antidote and if the LOV is involved then we might be seeing more of this poison in the future. The other thing we should be asking is who wrote the notes."

"That's right! She was incapacitated. The nurse, I mean. There was no way she wrote the notes!" Exclaimed Mt. Lady.

"She did write them, actually." Intervened Shunsui. "I know her handwriting. She wrote them herself."

"The notes were placed there by a second intruder. A girl, I believe. I was asleep for most of the time, but I did see her fight the nurse, and then doing something to Hizashi, then to me. Her hands were glowing green."

"What did she do? Are you both alright?" "They are more than alright." Recovery Girl chose that moment to enter the room.

"Aizawa-san over here was not in serious danger because of his injuries. Yamada-san, however, was not expected to last until I got to the hospital. Broken ribs, serious burns all over his arms and torso, twisted ankle. His body was also under a lot of strain because of the internal bleeding he had, regardless of it being stopped. Not to mention all the other minor cuts and bruises. There was always the possibility of complications; an infection, a fever, reopening of the wounds."

With every word coming from her mouth, the room seemed to darken. It was just hitting all the pro-heroes exactly how close their friend got to dying. Stricken expressions, sagged bodies, even Endeavor's flames looked a little doused. Maybe? Could be a trick of the light.

Aizawa let out a humourless laugh, though it sounded more like an aggressive release of air. He got this close, _this_ close, to waking up next to a corpse. Even if he was fully awake at the time, his injuries wouldn't have let him do anything. He would have watched it happen, stuck in that hospital bed and unable to look away, unable to stop the screams, unable to save Hizashi's life... The walls seemed to get closer, and it was getting harder to breathe. Every cell in Aizawa's body screamed to either hide in his sleeping bag or strangle something. Possibly himself. Chiyo's voice startled him out of it.

"Fortunately, our mystery person apparently has a healing quirk, one with a greater potential than mine."

"Healing quirks are extremely rare." Said Midnight, a confused expression marring her face. "You would think that there would be records of such a person. Pretty much anyone with a quirk that's related to healing is on the Emergency List. You know, if there's ever a calamity or disaster too big for us to deal with, they are brought in. Did anyone request permission to check the list?"

"I already did." Said Shunsui, slowly munching on a donut. "Seeing as the List and the people on it are protected, not many are allowed to see it. If you had requested it, God knows how long it would take for everything to be processed, then they would bring you in to know why you need to see it, then they would stall for a few weeks under the guise of needing to check everyone's background, but they are actually hoping you'll lose interest. Well, let's just say it would have been quite the troublesome affair." He took another bite, seemingly content with making all the people in the room wait for him to finish.

Aizawa looked thoughtfully at this doctor. At first glance the thing that pops up is his coloring. Deep sky blue hair, that reaches just below his shoulders, is set in a low ponytail. Next are his eyes, which are the loudest shade of magenta he's ever seen. He's whole body is relaxed, looking perfectly at home in the meeting room. He's got a content smile on his face while he's munching away at his star shaped donuts.

Aizawa thought this person must have quite the backbone, ignoring all the stares as he was doing. He even smiled, mouth full of donuts and with his cheeks all puffed, when Endeavor proceeded to give him the 'A-Fiery-Death-Awaits-You' glare. If the whole exchange would be considered a staring contest, then Endeavor was the first to crack.

"Stop wasting our time! Spit it out already!"

"Patience is a virtue."

The room was quiet for a few long seconds. Endeavor's brow seemed to have developed a tick before his face was once again set in his default scowl. "I see. Self-preservation eludes you." Then he simply sat down on his chair. After some more tense moments Shunsui had to ask. "That's it? No arguing?"

"There's no point arguing with fools."

Well then.

"Hm. You win today Firefly. I have severely underestimated you." The doctor nodded, eyes closed and looking like he just figured one of the secrets on the Universe.

This was quickly becoming the best day of Aizawa's life. There was this man, confidently messing with all of them, no fucks given, then he casually throws some sass Endeavor's way and concludes all of this with calling him Firefly. And he's wearing a pink headband with cat ears on it while he's at it.

"Jokes aside. The reason I can easily access the List is because I am on it. Mind you I don't know why they allow the people on it to see it like that, I mean, one of us could very easily tell the wrong people. Then you would have dead or kidnapped healers everywhere. They seem to think us incapable of doing something like this to our brethren. Kind of reckless if you ask me. I mean _I_ would never do that, but I'm a peace-loving guy, you know? I hate even the thought of conflict and fighting and Kami forbid, hurting someone. I have my cats kill whatever insects get inside the house, really. And-"

"Doctor! If you could please get back to the List?" Prompted Nezu.

"Right. Sorry. I babble sometimes, you see? There was this one time-" Nezu cleared his throat. "The List. Seeing as my quirk is Hydration and it has some medical uses, I was placed on that List when I first discovered my quirk. Getting access to it was quite easy. The point is that there is no one on that list with anything similar to what Aizawa-san described. No one on the list has ever managed to have healing abilities similar in power with Recovery Girl. Whoever this girl is, she's not on there."

"Her quirk is more powerful than yours?" Endeavor's voice thundered, addressing Recovery Girl. Everyone around him flinched like the volume physically hurt them. Aizawa couldn't help but think that Endeavor knows exactly what he's doing, the little shit. At this point Aizawa's poor ears have suffered so much abuse they'll start ringing whenever he as much as sees Endeavor or thinks of him.

"Both quirks are powerful in their own right, and extremely useful. There is, however, at least a difference between the two. Mine is dependent on the patient's life force. In Yamada-san's case there was no guarantee I could save his life. Even with the help from Doctor Igarashi's quirk. She managed to heal everything without it being taxing on his body."

"She also extracted the poison. We have a sample of it currently being analysed. We do not know a lot about it. Actually, most of the things we know are from the healer notes. The poison has an irritating factor and everything around it ends up itching and tingling with such an intensity that it caused Yamada-san to wake up and resort to self-harm in order to get rid of the feeling. From what the healer wrote it also seems the poison works in stages; the first one is obviously the itching and the second one appears to be extreme feelings of fear." Everyone was definitely paying attention now.

"The poison apparently has a very specific target - the brain. It did not stray from its path and apart from the irritation it did not affect anything else. Seeing as the poison was extracted before it could reach the brain, we do not know what other effects it could possibly have. There is no way of finding out or verifying what the healer said without testing it. We do not have an antidote, nor do we have a way of extracting it, so at the moment that is impossible. We are however trying to understand it better from its structure and the effects it has on lab animals. Cruel really, doing something like that, but as I have been told countless times, it's not my business and I should let them do their work." Shunsui finished with a pout.

The meeting went on for another hour. They discussed the attack and the LOV's involvement. Also precautions so they don't end up poisoned too.

Aizawa's mind, however, was far away. If the poison is that horrible, he wonders if Hizashi would remember the experience if he wakes up.

'When. When he wakes up." He corrected himself. The whole attack and poisoning and subsequent healing seems to have taken a toll on his mind. The body is almost fully healed, but it seems him mind needs more time.

..........

_"There could be times when you find yourself in an unknown place. In a village, you don't know where, the people there may or may not be hostile. Maybe without food, shelter, supplies, even money, what do you do?" Tsunade asked, fully expecting Sakura to get the answer wrong. Many do, and Sakura might be smarter than most, but a child is still a child. What Sakura lacks isn't the capacity to think and understand; she lacks experience._

_"Find out where I am. I could head into the village or town under disguise and gather information. From there I can decide what my next steps are. Would be easy enough to steal same money or supplies. I could sleep at an inn or camp just outside the village."_

_"Hmm." Tsunade-sama hummed, taking a languid sip of her sake. "You've got some interesting ideas. But you're still wrong. Your answers are too general. I asked what **you** should be doing." _

_Sakura stared for a bit before proceeding to mimic a fish, closing and opening her mouth, fruitlessly searching for words. "What- But-" Sakura takes a deep breath to collect herself."What should I have done?"_

_"You're right that most of the times you should use a henge or genjutsu to disguise yourself, but if you ask me that, in your case, it's just a waste of chakra. The problem of having to hide your identity only arises if you're well known. As of right now you are an unknown genin. Get rid of that hitai-ate and conceal your chakra and you could be mistaken for a civilian. Sure, you have pink hair and that sticks out, but nobody would associate it with a ninja. You could just say your family has roots in Iron. Red and pink hair color variations are more common there."_

_Sakura thought about it for a second. It made sense. She could dye her hair to be safe, but unless she skyrockets her way into the Bingo Book, her little pink self would remain and thrive in anonymity. Especially since she spends most days inside the village, tucked into a room somewhere studying and training. "Ok then. No unnecessary chakra usage."_

_"Damn right! Don't be stupid about it Sakura. Being caught in disguise would bring more suspicion and hostility your way than if you just waltzed right in. As for food and supplies, the best approach to this would be finding a way to make money yourself. If you can, of course. Go work, gamble, offer your medical knowledge, but stick to civilian stuff only. That way, you fairly earned it, and nobody can accuse you of stealing. The more legal your actions the less people can hold against you and the less suspicious you'll seem. And I think you know your limits very well, and doing anything that involves stealing and getting away with it is not an art you've mastered yet. You can't bullshit your way out of a situation if you tried. We'll work on that some other time." Saying that, she stretched in her seat and poured herself some more sake. She looked thoughtful for a while, staring out the window at the people below._

_"You should still gather information, of course. Try to let it come to you, though. Don't go around asking about things that you, if you were from around those parts, should have known already. Go to a bar, a market, work at a restaurant, go where there are people and just listen. You may not learn the things that you want, but you could learn something useful, nonetheless. Once you know where you are and how the things around there work, you can start thinking up a plan to get back home. Don't leave too soon after arriving 'cause that just screams suspicious."_

_Sakura looked at her mentor and thought that today must be a good day. Tsunade-sama is a lot calmer than usual, she only has one bottle of sake in her office and even that is being consumed with a certain laziness. The usual frown between her eyebrows is missing and her shoulders show no sign of tension. Her Shishou feels like talking and is actually giving advice that is not related to medical ninjutsu._

_Sakura couldn't help but smile. Clouds, ghosts and shadows have been looming over her master for Kami knows how long. Seeing her free of then for once gives her hope that maybe, one day, Tsunade will be free of all that weights her down._

_Tsunade notices her smile and immediately gets suspicious. "Why are you smiling, brat?! If you're planning to take away my sake, I won't let you. Shizune already sees to annoying and bullying me so that role is taken. You can't do that too."_

_Sakura just sighs and looks fondly at her mentor."I'm happy, Shishou. I'm happy that you're happy. I don't know why today is different, but I couldn't care less. You're hurting too much, too often. I'm thankful you get to have a break from that, at least for a while. And thank you for the advice! I'll see you tomorrow for training."_

_With that she left the office, not turning around to see Tsunade's watery smile. "Brat_."

...............

Sakura kept her Shishou's words in mind as she moved from building to building trying to scout the city. The night was doing a good job covering her movements, though she had to change directions on some occasions to avoid them people in skin tight Might Guy type suits. This place was truly something.

The morning came and the only thing of consequence that happened was that she very nearly had a heart attack when she saw someone staying on a building, looking down on the city and being on fire! And he was pretty cool with it too. Sakura really needed to gather some information, because things made less and less sense by the second.

She found herself in a more run down(?) part of the city. Run down compared to everything around it; compared to run down places in the Elemental Countries this was practically luxurious. There weren't many people on the streets. It was still too early and most were probably asleep. Even so, Sakura kept to the alleys in case some of the patrols(?) were around.

Sakura was lost in thought. Her situation was a lot more complicated than she previously believed. Seeing as she has no money she can't rent a room or an apartment. Getting money is also problematic. Back home you could offer your services and be hired without documentation. Odd jobs didn't require that. Here, however, Sakura doubts things are that easy. She has nothing; no way of even proving her existence.

'So doing things legally might be out of the question. At least until I get the right documentation.' So what could Sakura do?

After wondering around for a bit, she came across an abandoned apartment building. Seeing as she didn't find any other option, Sakura chose one of the apartments on the top floors and hid it with genjutsu. It was a temporary arrangement, until she figured everything else out.

So, Sakura spent her days inside and the nights out looking around the area. That was how she came across it. She saw some people entering a seemingly abandoned bookstore and coming out hours later. It turns out it was a casino of sorts. Very well hidden, apparently illegal and with a 'You see nothing. You hear nothing. We see nothing. We hear nothing.' policy. All you need to enter is go there and register so there is a codename associated with you, you have to leave all your possessions before going in, no phones or cameras or anything intelligent - whatever that means.

And that's how 'Raven', named after her henge's hair and eyes, became a new member of The Moon's View Casino. It was really nice actually and a great way to make some money. 'Shishou thought me well. After all someone had to win back all the money she lost.'

So, two weeks after leaving the hospital, Sakura had enough money to her name to rent a small flat in the same neighbourhood. The landlord never asked any questions, nor did he demand documentation; all he cared about was that she paid her rent on time.

When you entered, you were greeted with a small hallway, where Sakura had a hanger and a shoe cabinet. The hallway then split two ways. On the right there was the door towards the kitchen, which, in Sakura's opinion, was quite spacious. It had all the necessities and enough cabinets for the china, glasses, cutlery and whatever herbs and/or poisons she will probably get in the future. It also had a dining table big enough for four people.

On the left, as you stood with your back to the kitchen, there was the bathroom on the right wall and the bedroom at the end of the hallway. The bathroom was again fully equipped, with a toilet, sink, big mirror above it and a bathtub/shower combo. It also had a medical cabinet, which was a nice touch. The bedroom was also spacious. It had a big dresser, a desk and a queen size bed. Truly everything she needed and more. You would think it would cost more to live here, considering that everything was in good condition, it was spacious and clean.

Sakura thought the neighbourhood had something to do with it. Now that she had money and a place to call her own she was feeling better about the situation.

She went and got food, bathroom necessities and some new clothes that would blend in better. She even got a rucksack seeing as people would sometimes look at her pouches weirdly. She felt awfully vulnerable not being able to reach for a weapon though, so she still kept one of her hip pouches. She managed to put a seal inside it that activated with her chakra and released her weapons when she needed them. She doesn't want anyone looking inside and seeing an arsenal.

..........

The first thing he became aware of was the incessant beeping that was coming from next to him. Then the smell of antiseptic and medicine hit him, which not only confused him but also made him nauseous. Opening his eyes was harder than it should have been and it took multiple tries and lots if effort. Barely managing to crack an eye open, he was assaulted by blinding white light. More tries and more effort and some minutes later and his eyes was finally open and taking in the room around him.

He was in a hospital room; that at least explained the beeping and the smell. That made him wonder what landed him there, which was how he became aware of how utterly tired he felt. There was no pain that he could sense, but his body felt like lifting a spoon would exhaust him. He remembered then: the Gala, the ceiling falling, the fire.

Beginning to panic he tried to get up, but he was in no shape to do that. He simply didn't have the strength. A hand on his left shoulder stopped his attempts, and he almost gave himself whiplash turning to see who it was. Black hair and tired, dry eyes greeted him.

"Shota." He croaked, throat dry and voice rough from lack of use. There suddenly was a glass of water nudging at his lips, which he quickly drank.

"Hizashi." He placed the glass on the bedside table and sat back down on the visitor's chair next to the bed. "Take it easy."

"W-what happened? The attack?"

"It was dealt with." Shota did a good job hiding it, but Hizashi knew there was something worrying him. "What's wrong? How long was I out?"

"Two weeks. The attack took place two weeks ago. What can you remember?" He asked, the same look in his eyes.

"Two weeks? Damn, man. How did the people survive without my show?" Hizashi chuckled weakly."The last thing I remember is seeing the fire underneath the door. It was heading my way." He shuddered a bit, reliving the hopelessness he felt.

"We found you and brought you to the hospital. It was-" Shota took a deep breath in. "It was bad. Burns, cuts, bruises, internal bleeding, broken ribs, twisted ankle. Good thing you're stubborn 'cause they didn't know how you made it to the hospital. The doctors did everything they could, but you needed Recovery Girl to survive, and even that wasn't guaranteed. And she was away so it would take a while for her to reach you."

"Good thing she got to me then, hm? I can't feel any pain anymore. A wonderful job as always." Said Present Mic, happy and infinitely grateful to Recovery Girl.

"She didn't. Not for some time, at least. There was an... incident." And so Aizawa proceeded to tell him everything that unfolded that night.

............

"Did they find her?" Hizashi asked eventually, looking and sounding even more tired than he was when he woke up.

"Not yet, no." Aizawa couldn't help but think he should have waited for this conversation, but Hizashi was too good at reading him and wouldn't have let him leave the room until he told him what was wrong.

"And the poison? Any progress?" "They have a basic understanding of it. Most of which came from the girl. But no antidote yet or even a list of ingredients. There have been, however, more cases of people being poisoned. Two more, both civilians. They were already dead when they were found. Still had remnants of the poison in their brains. The cause of death is unknown, however; seems like their hearts just stopped."

"Oh."

The atmosphere in the room was heavy, dark. Aizawa could tell Hizashi was stuck in his own head now, probably thinking that were it not for the healer, he'd be dead too. The more seconds passed, the more he paled. Well, can't have that now can we?

"I'm glad you're not dead." The deadpan tone was back. Hizashi looked at him startled, before releasing a laugh that could have been a sob.

"I'm glad I'm not dead, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So references: When brainstorming names for the Casino one thing came popping into my mind. The 'Oceanview Motel & Casino' from the game Control. I mean I know I'm obsessed with that game, but this is just further proof.


	6. OC - Igarashi Shunsui

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to give you a better understanding of my OC, so you can have something to read until the next update. I want you to be able to picture him and also understand his personality and my thought process a bit better. I included mostly ideas and information that I have already mentioned or hinted at in the previous chapters so there are no major spoilers. There is some extra information about him in here though. :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have no talent whatsoever when it comes to drawing, so I couldn't represent what was going through my mind that way. In proper Slytherin fashion, I used whatever resources I had😂

Name: Igarashi Shunsui  
Age: 34  
Gender: Male  
Quirk: Hydration  
Birthday: 15th of October (Libra)  
Height: 175 cm

**Name Meaning** :   
• Shunsui: The name Shunsui is derived from the words ‘shun’ (Japanese for ‘season’) and ‘sui’ (which means ‘water’ in Japanese). I hope that's right.  
• Igarashi: From Japanese 五十 (i) meaning "fifty", が (ga), a particle indicating a subject, and 嵐 (arashi) meaning "storm". 

**Quirk Details** : Shunsui's Quirk 'Hydration' is pretty self-explanatory. His ability to increase the hydration level in cells has been pretty useful is his chosen career as a doctor. Whilst nothing impressive like Recovery Girl, Shunsui's Quirk does encourage healing. 

"Proper hydration can assist in the wound healing stages. Water is the primary way that oxygen and nutrients are delivered directly to the wound bed, and dehydration is one of the most common reasons why cell function becomes disrupted. Essentially, a lack of fluids creates delays in just about every aspect of wound healing, and if an injury doesn’t maintain proper moisture, epithelial cells that work to migrate over repaired tissue will not be able to cover the wound at a normal pace, leaving it more susceptible to open air and infection." 

(Info provided by: https://advancedtissue.com/2014/06/hydration-impacts-wound-healing/) 

Overuse of his Quirk results in severe dehydration. Shunsui is careful to always be properly hydrated and caries several bottles of water on his person or around him at all times.

**Personality** :   
• Shunsui is a very laid back kind of person. He can be seen with a smile on his face most of the time, though he never forces it. If one sees him smiling it's because he means it. 

• He can be seen wearing a cat ears headband around the hospital and sometimes outside too. It was a gift from a little girl he helped save. He cried then and to this day Shunsui continues to tear up even at the thought of it. 

• He hates conflict. If he can avoid a fight of any kind he will do it. But this doesn't mean Shunsui will let others step over him if only to avoid said fight. He will maintain his integrity and ideals. 

• He is know for getting some serious moods from time to time when he'll talk about all kinds of heavy topics. 

• He maintains a very strong moral code. He would never hurt innocents and does not tolerate other people doing it. 

• He is very serious about his career. He respects all aspects of it: the pacients, the staff, the work. All the staff in the hospital know that his peace-loving ways and his happy personality go right out the window if any of the staff disrespect the patients or vice versa. There are two things in this world that awaken Shunsui's anger very easily, quickly and strongly: people hurting any living being (humans, animals, even plants if it's clearly intentional) and any kind of disrespect for the healing career. (From the hospital's staff or its pacients) 

• Shunsui loves the stars. Doesn't mean he is knowledgeable on the subject. He just loves them. 

• Because of his attitude, ever-smiling face and eccentricities, many people would not take him seriously, laugh at him or believe him to be a spineless coward, given his adversity to conflict.

• He has a strong disliking of Endeavor, so he seeks to ruffle those fiery feathers as much as possible. 

**Quotes** :   
• Do you think I could become a star if I wished hard enough?! I don't believe there's a lot of conflict up there.

• No one is born a villain. There are many things in life that can push someone down that path, but it's ultimately a choice. They choose to behave like they do.

• I believe there are only _actions_ and _consequences._ What makes the difference between what we call heroes and what we call villains is whether or not they care about the consequences. A villain knows what would happen if they stab someone, or burn down a building, but does that knowledge stop them? The same concept applies to heroes. When they use their quirks to stop a villain, are they going all out or are they mindful of potential collateral damage? Of course, there are also people, _ignorant_ , _stupid_ people, who never even think about their actions. Your entire family is close to dying because you drove while drunk. _**Did you think about the consequences before you did that?**_

• Can we all just calm down? There are many things one can do that are sooooo much better than fighting. Like, like dancing, or singing horribly off-key, or imagining everything around is made of candy, or renaming each and every star so talking to them would feel so much more personal.

• I thought I heard some annoying, disrespectful little flies buzzing around here. Now, I'm not one for violence, but even I would squash those. It would be well-deserved too, _**don't you think**_?

• Don't let the headband fool you! *whispers* I'm not actually a cat. 

I may never use the quotes. They mainly helped me shape his character, get an idea about how he talks and his change of personality depending on how he feels. As you can see with the quotes, there is:

  * Normal, happy, professional doctor, will say Tobi like things sometimes Shunsui
  * Angry, will give you a lecture from hell Shunsui
  * And serious, heavy topics, life leasons Shunsui



**Extra** :  
I chose the name 'Shunsui' mostly as a reference to the Bleach character. His personality is also influenced by him, in his peace-loving but will kick your ass if necessary ways. 

He has a bit of Tobi in there, though I realised this after I wrote his quotes. Eh.

His birthday is also the birthday of one of my friends.

Also, meet the cats!! I have no idea if, when or how I could introduce them in the story as active characters and not just thoughts/memories/mentions, but I wanted you to see what I'm seeing whenever I think of Shunsui's cats. :))

This is Jun'ichi, which means 'obedient first son'. He is quiet, aloof, never messy, can literally stare into your soul and is probably plotting murder.

This one is Akihiro, which means 'great brightness'. He is loud, energetic, a prowler, loves attention and gives it back, eats a lot and will probably end up breaking something.

They are siblings, with Jun'ichi being older.

..........

  
Ok so no bullshit. I already finished writing all of this and got curious if there are actual characters in the BNHA universe that have this quirk. I found this.

(Uploaded by Discover Sibillini, but I'm not sure if they made it or just reposted)

  
Same birthday and height! This is one hell of a coincidence. The water effect in the picture is also kind of like how I imagined Shunsui's quirk. Kinda like how Sakura removes poison I guess, but just water. And whilst Sakura's technique is painful, it doesn't hurt when Shunsui hydrates people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another little detail. Jun'ichi's name is a reference to a character, also named Jun'ichi, from the fanfiction 'A Stitch In Time' by anoceaninthesun. Amazing work that one. I highly recommend it. Well, if you're into time travel and the founders' era that is. It's also quite long and a work in progress. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it.❤


	7. Of Bad Feelings And The Passage of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse through the fabric of the universe.  
> Almost no progress but definitely more problems for the pro heroes.  
> And a kunoichi’s cure for boredom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version. Changed a few things to tie up some loose ends. Enjoy!

The sky was as clear and blue as ever. All the birds were active and chirping their little songs, the roads were full of smiling, energetic people going about their day and even the plants and trees seemed healthier and greener. The sun was shining full force and engulfing the world in its warm, comfortable embrace.

But to Naruto... to Naruto it felt wrong, so very **wrong**. He was never one to complain about such days. If the world itself felt like matching his happiness levels than by all means. The more the merrier. But this felt cruel somehow. How can the day appear so positive, so nice, when he knew it was fake? A joke played by the universe. Perhaps some sort of irony, everything was radiant and practically oozing comfort and contentment, yet inside he felt like he ordered ramen and got vegetables instead.

The sun felt overbearing, its heat burning away whatever energy he had left. Something wasn't right. For a week now he kept feeling bereft and so, so confused. Like he lost something but can't remember what, or when or how. Naruto kept trying to smile through it, bring his optimism and happiness to such heights that they will overcome these foreign, unwelcome feelings. But it was all hopeless.

The more days passed, the worse he felt and no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what was wrong. He was dangling precariously on the last bit of his patience. Ero-Sennin was of no help either. He spent all this time blaming Naruto's worries on the time he hit his head during a spar, or on paranoia, and left soon after looking for 'inspiration'. Truly whenever there is anyone of the female disposition around, it's like Jiraiya's brain stops working.

So, at the end of that week, and literally at the end of his wits, Naruto carefully pens a letter of "Sorry. Gotta go. See you in Konoha. Here's some ramen. Bye." and runs out of there like the shinigami was on his ass, or like the shinigami was in front of him and he had to outrun him lest it reached Konoha first and Naruto will be too late to do anything about it.

..........

After the last night of drinking and enjoying the company of women, Jiraiya thought things couldn't be better. Damn, he thinks he has an idea for the plot of his next book. What more could he ask from life?

So, he woke up, slightly dazed but content, and looked forward to what this new day had in store from him. He felt so good in fact, that he was even looking forward to working on Naruto's chakra control. Kami knows it is abysmal at best.

Imagine his surprise when he found some instant ramen on his bedside table, with a note attached to it. Confused and in no small amount suspicious, he carefully reached for the note and brought it closer to see what it contained.

He read it once, then chuckled and rubbed his eyes, thinking the sleep must have really messed with his eyes. He read it again.

.

.

.

.

"WHAT!?"

............

Tsunade was once more spending her day by drinking the problems away. 'Can't drown in sorrow if you drown it first, right?'

She thought she heard a distant shout of "Baa-chan!" and reached for another bottle of sake. 'You also can't hear the voices if you're too drunk to even comprehend you own existence.' She was about to bring her cup to her lips when the door burst open and instead she found herself launching it towards whoever dared to interrupt her 'me time'.

"Oww!! Baa-chan!" Came a whined response. "What was that for? I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Gazing thoughtfully at the orange blur, Tsunade quickly metabolised most of the alcohol and faced Naruto with a clear mind. Well, _clearer_ mind.

"What are you doing here, brat? Can't you see I'm busy? I have more important things to do that entertain people who were not even supposed to be in the village!" Tsunade continued to scrutinise him. She received no letter from Jiraiya saying they were returning. She saw no blood or injury, and apart from the sightly scandalised look on his face, there was nothing indicating urgency or danger of any kind.

"You are always so mean to me, Baa-chan. No wonder you're a lonely old la-" Naruto suddenly found himself staring at a red in the face, practically grew horns Tsunade, holding her desk in one hand and her chair in the other, ready to throw them, and Naruto along with them, all the way to Kiri.

"I was kidding- I'm sorry- I didn't mean it!! BAA-CHAAAN!!!"

...........

"So why is it you came here, after all?" Asked Tsunade eventually, looking at a pouting Naruto, bandaged like a mummy and laying in a hospital bed.

He mumbled something unintelligible.

"Speak up! If you're looking for mind readers, you got the wrong clan."

"I just wanted to see if everything was alright."

Tsunade blinked. "What was that?"

"I wanted to see if everything was alright, you know?!" Naruto started, suddenly full of energy. "'Cause I've been feeling real weird this past two weeks and like the ramen didn't help and the sun was really mean and was messing with me, and I kept feeling like something was wrong, like I lost something...or will lose something." He stopped, contemplating his last statement. "Whatever! I had to come check and I ran as fast as I could and now I'm here. So is everything ok?"

There was a long pause. Tsunade stared at Naruto, and Naruto stared right back and with every moment of silence he grew more worried and kept glancing at the window, wanting to leave and see for himself whatever happened. The words that came out of Tsunade's mouth were not something he was prepared to hear.

"Sakura's dead."

And so the world stood still. Naruto's world, at least. The sounds around him were getting further and further away, until he could no longer hear anything but this weird buzzing in his head and the loud thoughts, bouncing around his mind, tangling and becoming a mess of words that Naruto couldn't make sense of. One thing was certain thought, they were all screaming and he kept getting flashbacks to days spent on a swing, when the fire burning inside him was but a small flame, still bright but fickle and fluctuating with every insult thrown his way, with every look full of disgust or fear.

And the fire was quickly losing strength now, with every second spent in the chaos of his mind. That...can't be right. And as soon as it all started, the sounds were coming back, and his vision cleared, and he turned to Tsunade baa-chan a with a weak smile and a forced laugh.

"It's not funny, Baa-chan. Though I admit you got me there for a second." He brought his hand up to uneasily scratch at his cheek.

Tsunade sighed, tired and weary, and though her appearance was still young, she felt more her age than ever before. She should have expected this. In the world of ramen, sunshine and talk no jutsus things couldn't go so wrong so fast. Any change that was in any way similar to 'life before friends', as Naruto would call it, would overwhelm him.

"Brat- Naruto. Look, I'm not kidding. Her team was ambushed during a delivery mission. They were close to Wave when the Oto nin attacked. They were surrounded and outnumbered and truly the only person with combat experience was Sakura. She made the decision to send the kids here. She stayed behind to buy them time. She never came back. I'm sorry."

"Wave? W-We had our first C-rank there, you know? What a- what a coincidence." Naruto laughed weakly, a blank look on his face, as he was confronted by the truth of the matter. The mask began to crumble and fat tears started falling like a waterfall from his still disbelieving eyes. The sound of choked sobs filled the room.

"W-we kicked ass b-back then! You should have seen it!"

Tsunade was suddenly overcome by an urgent need to hug him, comfort him. Damn it all! She can barely hold herself together, falling apart as she's been doing for years now, how is she supposed to help him too? She was about to take a step towards him, when Naruto shot up like an arrow, face thunderous. "There's no way Sakura-chan's dead! No way I'm telling you! She's probably out there hurt and alone or- or she got captured and that's why she ain't back yet."

Turning hard, burning eyes towards her, Naruto couldn't help but ask. "Did you send a team to investigate? Or track her? Or rescue her? Or at least retrieve the body?!"

"From what the team and Katsuyu-sama said there is no way she survived. She took a killing blow for one of the genin. Katsuyu-sama also said her reserves were emptying fast, there was not enough for her to escape or defeat them and heal herself afterwards."

"So you did nothing?! This is Sakura-chan we're talking about. **How could you?** "

"Now you stop it right there. Who do you take me for? Of course I sent a team already. There was nothing there but signs of a battle and giant pools of blood. No Sakura! No scent! No fucking tracks! NO NOTHING!" There was a crumbling wall now behind Naruto, where her fist made contact. Tsunade couldn't deal with this right now. She needed sake and she needed it yesterday. "Nothing.." she whispered faintly.

"So there was no body?"

What.

"What?"

"There was no body?"

"No, but.."

"NUH HUH. I don't want to hear it. If there was no body recovered then you don't know for sure Sakura-chan is dead. I refuse to believe that!"

Naruto suddenly had an impish look about him and he glanced Tsunade's way. "Plus, I doubt Sakura-chan would let herself die before Sasuke-teme. She'll outlive him if only out of spite. There are only so many times one can hear 'You're annoying' and 'You're weak' before they snap."

A startled sort of laugh escaped Tsunade. What is she hearing right now?

"Do not worry Tsunade baa-chan! I'll find her and bring her home, dattebayo!"

Then he zoomed out of the window, leaving a shocked, and now slightly more hopeful, Hokage behind.

..........

Kakashi truly believed this was the universe's way of telling him he was cursed. A cursed person, with a cursed past, definitely cursed present and, as long as he still breathes, a cursed future.

There was no other way of explaining how everything and everyone he has ever come to care for was either hurt, maimed, kidnapped, killed or all of the above. There was also Sasuke who went a bit crazy, got drunk on power, fantasised about revenge and left the village, but that was a special case.

'Let's review.' Said the little voice in his head that sounded like a combination of all of his regrets. 'There is your _father_. Killed himself. Died in disgrace. There is _Obito_. Took one for you. Crushed to death. Departing eye gift. There's _Rin_. You weren't good enough, so she took matters into her own hands and jumped in front of you. Chidori to the chest. There is _Minato-sensei_. Died a hero, at least. Still dead, though, and for months before that you weren't there for him because you were too busy wallowing in guilt.'

Kakashi hissed. He knows all of this already. He doesn't need a reminder. Looking at the memorial stone in front of him, he couldn't stop the voice from continuing, because Kami knows that was not the end of his regrets and mistakes.

'What did you do after? Heal? Put the pieces back together? Nonono. You kept everyone at arm's length, distancing yourself from anyone that could have helped. You adopted another person's personality traits and got into the habit of reading porn religiously so it can distract people from seeing _underneath the underneath_.' Kakashi was starting to think he should have stayed at home. His own mind was trying to sabotage him and reliving his worst moments left him drowning, gasping for air and reaching towards the light of the sun above him, but he was being dragged deeper and deeper into the abyss.

'You could have dealt with your demons or, if not, you could have at least manned up and taken your own **miserable** life, but that hits too close to home doesn't it? Too much like your father and you're too much of a **coward** to do the job yourself! You take any and all missions that have a chance of killing you, instead. At least then you die with your honor intact, right?' A pause. Long enough for Kakashi to hope that this was all for today. He has too much on his plate and not enough time. He needs to get going. But oh, was his mind cruel.

'And what of Naruto? Sensei's son? You left him to rot, alone and suffering. You didn't even entertain the idea of helping him. You avoided him like the plague and the only reason you were ever close to him **ever** was because you were part of the guard rotation. But hey, you got a second chance, right? He was on your team, and you could make it all better? Finally. Atonement. Redemption.'

Yes. Yes. That's exactly what he had wanted.

'You fucked it up again. Failed attempts at teamwork. No training whatsoever. D-ranks' galore. The only thing you ever managed to do for him was put him in danger. The Wave mission. The Chunin Exams. And Sasuke? Poor, misguided Sasuke? You never managed to get through to him. Never managed to make him realize the importance of teammates and working together. What's more? You taught him the very technique he would later use against his allies. He left. He is a traitor now. And what of **Sakura**?'

Oh God. Sakura.

'The civilian born female. Destined for failure, right? What's the point of giving a fuck about that when you had a Jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha? No training. No attention. No praise. No hope. And when the boys left? What did you do? Went back to that self-destructive never-ending cycle. She had to seek a better teacher because you left her too. And just when you started to train together again, before the chunin exams, to be a team again, what happened? She died. Alone. Frightened. In pain. _Because of you._ You should have been on that mission. For guidance if nothing else. That's how it was supposed to be initially. But you switched last minute to join an ANBU team on, guess what, another suicide mission. Old habits die hard, eh? Her death is on you.'

He didn't want to believe it at first. When he was summoned by the Hokage, it looked like any other mission assignment. And it was perfect timing too, because he was getting worried about Sakura. Her team should have been back a couple of days ago and they had plans to go to Ichiraku and celebrate. But she never showed up.

..........

_"Hokage-sama."_

_"Use the door, Hatake. It's there for a reason."_

_"Maa. But where is the fun in that?" He gave her his usual eye smile._

_"So, what mission is it this time?"_

_"Hatake, I have no mission to give you." That was... odd._

_"There is no way of saying this nicely, and I'm sure you'll appreciate the bluntness. Sakura's team arrived a week ago via Katsuyu-sama, injured and with no Sakura. They were ambushed. She took a lethal blow for one of the genin. I am afraid there is no way she made it out of there alive. I sent a team to investigate already, and they came back empty-handed. I'm sorry, Kakashi, just thought I should inform you. Better to hear it from me than from gossip."_

_Kakashi was extremely grateful that the mask and hitai-ate combo managed to cover any expression he might make. There was no way Hokage-sama wouldn't have been able to see the hole the news ripped through his heart were his face not concealed._

_But alas, nothing else about Kakashi's outward appearance reflected what he felt inside. So he just stood there for 10 minutes, attempting to get himself under control and muster some sort of response. Hokage-sama, bless her heart, didn't say anything, didn't tell him to leave, just waited patiently, pretending to do some paperwork._ _Eventually, his ANBU mask, figuratively speaking, slid on and he entered professional killer, no emotions mode._

_"Why was I not on the team? The one sent to her last known location?"_

_"Well, first of all, you were still out of the village at the time. Secondly, while I'm sure your attachment would have been a great motivator to do your best; it is also the reason I couldn't send you. Too personal."_

_"I should have been there! I am one of your best trackers. You shouldn't have kept me out of it. She was my student-"_

_"But since you asked so nicely, I am willing to tell you her last known location. For closure... Of course, a loyal shinobi like you wouldn't leave the village unauthorized, that would be considered treason. So if sometime in the next two weeks, someone was to go downstairs to the missions desk and choose whatever they want, they would be free to do so." Tsunade interrupted him, ignoring the spark of anger his last statement caused. This was not a time to get angry._

_"I see. Thank you, Hokage-sama."_

_"Whatever are you thanking me for? I did nothing. Oh. By the way," Tsunade slid a paper with the exact coordinates of Sakura's location towards him. "I hear the wheather there is quite gloomy and rainy this time of the year. Anyone that goes there should pack heavy, dress warmly, and should they need more time, they should know I got them off the ANBU mission roster for a month."_

_"That's very useful information. I'm sure they are grateful."_

_Tsunade sent a sad smile his way._

...............

So here he was, two weeks after Sakura's death and eight days since he started searching. Any mission he could get in that area, he took, and if he could make detours for other missions, he would. For closure...

But that closure makes no sense. And that's not because he is in denial or foolishly hopeful. He searched and analysed the area over and over again and found nothing. There was no body recovered, which obviously was a red flag in Kakashi's book. Some of the blood there he and his ninken could recognize as hers, and sure, there was a lot of it, **too much** , but it lead to nowhere. He could track the assailants all the way to the Oto borders (and the other team said there were no tracks, amateurs), but not Sakura. Her scent didn't go anywhere. The only way she could have gone was down, and he already checked, up, and he doubts the Gods lifted her body into the afterlife, though someone with an aerial form of travel could have done so, or there was some sort of teleportation jutsu involved so her body just disappeared.

He didn't want to get his hopes up. He really didn't, but he also doesn't want to have another name on the memorial stone to visit. He'll keep searching. If there is even the slightest chance of her being alive, he won't give up on her. He will not leave her again.

And apparently neither will Naruto, if the shouting figure in the distance heading his way at alarming speeds was anything to go by. Wasn't he supposed to be out of the village? Training?

"Kakashi-sensei!! I'll find her! I'll find her and bring her back! Just you watch!!"

............

Sakura still feels awfully vulnerable. Getting quite a fair amount of money and having a permanent roof over her head scratched quite a few things of her list. Even so, one BIG problem remains. Information.

Sakura has spent enough nights observing this new strange place, and she knows things work similarly enough to how they were in Konoha, like a Casino, a market (though the automatic doors and the big variety of products did surprise her) or renting a flat (in a sketchy part of the city, so no questions asked, but renting, nonetheless). Still, she has to map out the area, learn of the history and customs of this place, definitely learn about the mutations that people seem to be experiencing and also find out more about the patrol people. Yeah, them too.

Another thing on Sakura's list is continuing her training. Seeing as she is going to be here for an undetermined span of time, and that the locals could very well be a threat to her in the future, she needed to be prepared. Until she figures out the more special part of her training, namely crushing things and causing small earthquakes, she will stick to simpler stuff.

Therefore, a new routine began. Mornings were for meditation and kata exercises, followed by breakfast and then doing some laps around the neighbourhood. The rest of the day, Sakura was free to explore the city or focus her training on chakra control, ninjutsu or genjutsu. The first few days went like this, with nothing out of the ordinary happening, unless you find figuring out which market is the closest and has the best prices as noteworthy. However, on November 12 (as she finally learned the date from a very advanced television she saw in a shop's window display) Sakura literally runs into a library.

She has developed the worst kind of affliction - running away every time she sees one of the people on patrol. Highly suspicious, stupid and entirely unintentional. It was an instinctual reaction at this point. So one day, walking down a street and munching on her packed lunch, Sakura sees one of them and promptly does a 180, speeding up to a kind of half walking, half sprinting pace. She turns a corner and smacks her head on an open door. The door to the library, it turns out. And now she has a source of information.

From that day onwards, Sakura made sure to pay the library a visit from time to time, when she thought not many people would be around to question her reading material. And man was that informative. Quirks? The people of this world pretty much function on kekkei genkai. Powers passed down genetically from the parents to the child. And whatever those quirks are, they don't use chakra. The people here have severely underdeveloped chakra systems, yet they still had their power ups. Hmm. Interesting. Sakura made a mental note to look into that in the future.

The patrols are Heroes apparently. This world’s equivalent to shinobi, but like...idealistic kiddy versions. Their purpose is to protect and watch over the civilians, deal with the bad guys, basically the same thing. Even so, killing is illegal here, which rubs Sakura the wrong way. What if things were the same in Konoha? People like Orochimaru would not pay for their crimes. What of the people that suffered because of these Villains? Where is their justice? You would simply apprehend a murderer, when there is always a chance of them escaping? There are some things there that need to be reevaluated.

Perhaps they weren’t so different after all. She thought them civilians before and obviously she was wrong. Nobody looked at her twice, regardless of her less than normal hair colour. Though here, she supposed, it wasn’t so out of the ordinary. The people here were used to the strange and the bizarre. It was probably normal for them. So perhaps her abilities would not stand out as much as she had feared.

And so the routine continued. For some time. It was the end of November when Sakura decided she was bored. She can't spend one more day simply meditating, training and walking around. It got old really fast. Back home, she had her work at the hospital to keep her on her toes. Healing people, helping them, she was good at that. It was a role she felt comfortable in. But how could she do that here? Traipsing into the hospital and demanding a job as a doctor was out of the question for obvious reasons. Perhaps she could help in an unofficial sense? No job so to speak, nor duty, just because... She doesn’t usually do things just because. The most impulsive thing she’s ever done was go to Tsunade-shishou and ask to become her apprentice. But in this strange place, the boredom and the time spent without alleviating it were grating on her sanity. But what to do?

...........

Her answer came shortly after in the form of one elderly couple, who were being harassed by some brainless thugs, demanding that they hand over their belongings. She was pretty sure at least two people on the main street saw this, but no one was doing anything about it. Looking closer around, it became obvious to Sakura that the people here were 1.afraid to do something and 2.used to this, to ignoring this. ‘What is a shinobi if not the defender of the defenceless?’ she thought to herself, coming to a decision. She will help them, however she can, as long as she can. Why? Because it’s what she does. And whilst back home there were many that could fill that role, here it seems the people don’t even consider it anymore.

But how to proceed? They probably are used to different showcases of power, ‘quirks’ she reminded herself. The Heroes weren’t hard to miss, after all. Doing something herself wouldn’t be any different from what they are doing. Even so, she doesn’t want to attract too much attention. She’ll have to limit what she shows. Back in Konoha you wouldn’t be alarmed by someone that only possesses genin level skills, so they shouldn’t be alarmed if she is just slightly faster and stronger than your average, untrained civilian.

Well, that solves that. Now, henge or no henge? Sakura is kind of in the middle of the sidewalk, with several people walking around her and she is pretty sure the elderly lady noticed her standing there and sent a pleading look her way. She was seen already, changing her appearance now would be useless. She barely finished that thought when one of the thugs raises his hand as if to hit the couple. Her body moved before her mind had time to comprehend everything.

Rushing at them (with the use of chakra to silence her steps), she got there before the hand could start its downward motion. Sakura quickly knocked two of them out by pressing the pressure point on their necks. The last one, also the one that was planning to hit the elders, must have very good hearing, 'Those were dog ears on his head, right?', because the moment she was done with his friends his hand froze and he turned sharply, startled. Not unlike a dog, his response to noticing her and his fallen friends was to try to bite her. And remembering the damage Kakashi's dogs could do, Sakura did the only responsible thing she could think of, and punched him in the face. If the telltale crunch wasn't satisfying enough, the way he was pushed back a couple of feet and crumbled at the feet of the couple certainly was.

Huffing and clapping her hands together as if to say 'well that's that', Sakura turned to the civilians. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" The only thing they did was continue to look flabbergasted and eventually sharply shake their heads. 

"Ok then. I don't know where the police headquarters are, and I have no way of contacting them, so please do that. It wouldn't do for them to go on thinking they can do things like this without consequences. Have a nice day!" And she left the now quiet alleyway, not without noticing the awed looks the witnesses had. Perhaps this was a good thing. What better way for people to trust her than seeing that she aims to help, not harm.

This was not the last time she stumbled upon such situations. Far from it. During the night, at least, the neighbourhood came alive, and it was increasingly dangerous to be alone. Probably why most people followed some sort of unofficial curfew. Sakura did her best to ignore this in the beginning. It was truly not her business and it would be a risk to get involved, but she has been in Musutafu City for almost a month and a half. She has made little to no progress when it comes to figuring out where exactly Musutafu is in relation to the Elemental Nations, she still had no idea how exactly it is that she got here and frankly, she doesn’t think she’ll be leaving without at least one of those questions answered. The best thing she could do now is keep to her research, train and solidify her place in this society. Konoha or not, her job was to help and help she will. If she ever notices something wrong going on, she will not stand passively to the side anymore. Now if that also happens to build trust between her and the locals, that could only be an advantage.

...........

Sakura's bleary gaze could be found staring holes into the ceiling. That night she found herself unable to sleep due to her worries. Staying positive was always Naturo’s spiel, and with every day that passed without some sort of breakthrough, she was left feeling more and more hopeless. So, she decided to go for a midnight run. She could use that to get rid of all the excess energy and negative emotions, then she will be able to get a good night’s sleep. Of course, it didn’t go as planned.

Four hours she spent running around the area stopping 2 muggings, a bar brawl that turned quite fast into some sort of mini war zone, a break-in and when she was coming back home from all that, three guys took to following her. Sakura was tired and angry and she desperately wanted to answer the bed's call. ‘At least you’re sleepy now.’ They eventually 'cornered' her.

Busy thinking about her grocery list, Sakura didn't hear a word they said and apparently, they don't take well to being ignored. The one that must have been the leader, got red in the face, shouted something and all of a sudden they all rushed at her. One of them aimed a punch at her face. 'Poor form, left a lot of openings.' She simply avoided it, thrusting her hand forward faster than they could see, grabbed his shoulder and threw him into one of his friends, all the while sending a bit of chakra to knock him out.

Sakura quickly turned around. The leader was standing behind her with some knives at the ready and started throwing them with a scary accuracy. What struck Sakura as odd was the fact that the knives seemed to follow her, even as she changed directions. 

His other lackey got up from the ground, pushing aside the one she knocked out, and came at her with a vengeance, growing a pair of horns and trying to impale her on them. Sakura really didn't have time for this. She waited until the one running at her (affectionately called Horns) was but a hair's breadth away and shunshined behind the leader.

The knives previously following her were too close to Horns to change direction. They managed to slice at his shoulders, thighs and arms. Nothing too serious, luckily. Horns stood still for a moment before falling on the ground, thrashing and screaming about not wanting to die. Drama Queen.

Sakura waited silently while the leader looked frantically around. Tired of wasting time, she struck his pressure point and he fell like a sack of potatoes. After that, she headed back home to get her well deserved sleep. Finally in bed, Sakura closed her eyes and savored the quiet. Then she heard a scream. 

'Damn it all.'

............

On one random day she decided to venture to the forest where she first landed in Musutafu City. It was nothing like the forests surrounding Konoha. The trees here are smaller, probably because the soil lacks chakra.

Walking around she senses four people some 30 meters away, and then she feels a chakra signature, bigger than any other she felt in the city. Hopping in the trees, Sakura hurried to see what it was. In a small clearing, four children, couldn't be more than 12, were surrounding and throwing rocks at a small animal, laughing every time one hit the mark and the poor thing whimpered or whined.

Seeing red, Sakura hopped down from the tree, creating a small crater upon landing. With measured steps, each making fissures of their own, she was closing in on the now startled kids. "What exactly do you think you're doing?" She asked, cracking her knuckles. "You like preying on small, defenseless animals, don't you? **Want to see what being in that position feels like?!** " The small bit of killing intent coming of off her was enough to make them run away screaming, stumbling and tripping because of their shaking legs.

Watching them leave, Sakura took a few deep breaths and forced all the anger to leave her body. Turning to the small creature, she approached it slowly, getting close to the ground and talking in a quiet, comforting tone. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. The little devils are gone now. I'm just going to see what injuries you have and try to heal them." Sakura held her arm out and waited.

The little trembling thing raised its head and tilted its ears towards her curiously. It turns out it is actually a wolf. A little baby wolf, with fur darker than the night and eyes the colour of liquid silver. It timidly sniffed her hand and, after a moment of consideration, headbutted it.

Taking that as the 'go ahead', Sakura let her medical chakra scan its body and heal whatever bruise, scrape and cut she could find. After finishing her work, she smiled softly at the wolf, told it to be more careful and turned around to leave, but not before the little thing decided to nip at her fingers, drawing a bit of blood. Admonishing it by flicking its nose, Sakura rose and returned to her flat.

She didn't even notice that she forgot all about the chakra signature.

..........

Another beautiful, rainy day, Sakura decided to take advantage of the weather and practice her Water Release. Heading towards the Takoba Municipal Beach Park, Sakura expected to be the only one there. Who else would be crazy or stupid enough to brave the elements? At least one other person, as it turn out.

There, on the beach, close to the water, sat a indigo-haired boy, no umbrella or other protective clothing in sight, seemingly at easy with the rain pouring down on him. Sakura took a few seconds to decide her next course of action. She could leave. After all she didn’t plan on there being witnesses. Until that day she has only used a bit of chakra enhanced speed and strength. Nothing extraordinary and definitely no ninjutsu. Would it be weird for her to display yet another ability? But she has never seen him around her neighbourhood and they were a fair distance away from it. The city was big and chances are she will never see him again. Ok, then she could go about her training without paying him any attention, but that thought clashed with her medic side, telling her that he could get seriously sick if left alone.

Mind made up, she walked towards him and plopped down on the sand. She could feel his startled stare on her, but paid it no mind. Sakura closed her eyes and focused. She felt for her chakra, felt for the water around her and attempted to redirect it around herself and the boy, wanting to form a protective shield around them. There was no specific jutsu that she knew of that could do that. What she was trying to do was get a feel for the water and the water chakra, forcing both to do her bidding. If she could manage this, surely any water jutsu from then on would come more easily and naturally to her.

It was hard work, requiring amazing control, and for the first 10 minutes she was sure nothing happened, but then the water started to move. Slowly, gradually, the rain was no longer touching Sakura. 15 minutes later, the shield covered the boy too, if the small gasp she heard was any indication of that.

Things continued like that for another half an hour, time Sakura used to extend the shield another 2 meters. It was 4 meters in radius now and she was starting to get exhausted. With practice the shield will take less out of her, grow in size and probably be able to withstand more than just some rain. She will have to leave soon. The boy chose that moment to talk.

“So I’m guessing your quirk has something to do with water.”

“Something like that.” Sakura opened her eyes, careful to keep the shield up and looked at him. His hair, now dry (she must have affected more than just the rain), had the same gravity defying abilities as her sensei’s. His eyes had a similar colouring to his hair, being a dark purple. They looked Shikamaru levels of bored and had dark eye bags underneath them. “I’m Haruno Sakura. I came here to practice, and the thought of leaving you to catch your own death was distracting, so I included you in my training. Hope it didn’t bother you. You were kind of resembling a wet cat, and I couldn’t live with the imagery.” She extended her hand.

“And I was so looking forward to drowning by rain. You ruined me plans, but I guess I couldn’t live with that imagery either.” He said, voice full of sarcasm. “Hitoshi Shinsou.”

“Nice to meet you, Hitoshi-san. I hate to cut this short, but I don’t think I can keep this up for much longer. Maybe we’ll see each other again, hopefully in friendlier weather conditions. Go home soon, maybe find some shelter. You could get sick.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, by the way.”

“No problem.”

...........

Sakura was starting to get a reputation. She was all the neighbourhood seemed to talk about. From little kids to adult to elders. After weeks of doing her little protector of the thing, helping and defending whoever she noticed needed it, people were starting to recognize her. She was expecting this. What’s more, she was right. She only got looks of gratitude, awe and respect. If during the first two weeks of her being there, people would look at her warily, probably wondering if the new face was another person that will cause them trouble, now things were exactly the opposite.

What she wasn’t expecting, however, was to gather a bit of fanbase. A few people would look her way and start to talk excitedly amongst themselves, giggle, she thought she saw some dreamy, heart-eyed looks too, but she chose to ignore those. Sometimes people would try to talk to her or offer her little gifts. She did her best to ignore this. Better to not encourage them. Most people kept a respectful distance, which was preferable. The select few that form the ‘fanbase’ though, they almost worship her... in a way, and that did kind of disturb her. It did give her confidence a boost, though. 

What surprised Sakura the most was that for all people would look her way and be grateful, nobody said anything aloud. No mention of her actions or skills. If anyone tried to thank her they just said it was the least she deserved, but never specified why. They were very cautious like that. If anyone ever said something or even tried to, they would be interrupted, stopped and/or silenced by at least five different people.

It was like they didn’t want to lose her, like talking about it would spook her away, like they were protecting her. Why or from what she couldn’t tell, but as long as they kept at it she will keep helping them.

............

The room was illuminated by harsh artificial lights, making it easy to see the lone figure inside, tied to the bed and thrashing around. The smell of antiseptic, medicine and blood clung to the walls and if that wasn’t nauseating enough, the ear-splitting screams, choked sobs and desperate pleas coming from inside definitely were.

Aizawa couldn’t do more than watch helplessly through the observation windows. The man currently begging for his life was another victim of the poison attacks, the only one to be found alive. An opportunity the scientists couldn’t miss apparently. ‘We finally get a chance to see the full effects of the poison. This is a way for us to understand it better.’ They said. To Aizawa it looked like they were purposefully leaving this man to die a painful death.

“You look troubled. Understandable, of course, given the circumstances.”

“Principal.” He greeted. “The circumstances require me to look troubled. Is this really necessary?”

“I’m afraid so, yes. There has been to progress with the poison as of yet and given that all the other victims were found dead, there was no way for them to know its effects, symptoms, purpose.”

“The healer already told us-“

“The healer’s words cannot be taken for granted. They tried observing how the poison reacts on lap animals, but the effects differ from what the notes said. All we have are the notes and the accounts of a couple of witnesses from the other cases, but the only way to verify the information and gather more of it, is to see for ourselves.”

A tense silence filled the space between them. Regardless of the reasoning behind this, that man was suffering. Aizawa was this close to bursting into the room to try and do something, anything. Better than standing aside to ‘observe’.

“If it makes you feel better” continued Nezu. “There is nothing we can do. Nothing manages to keep him under. He kept waking up. Pain meds do nothing; whatever he is feeling is caused by the brain. In a way it’s like a Phantom Limb. It doesn’t matter what we do, what we give him, the brain will still emulate the feeling of pain. Nothing short of an antidote or killing him will help.”

So all the other victims had to go through this and everyone that follows will too. “It doesn’t. Make me feel better, I mean. It really doesn't.”

…………..

“Any progress with my mysterious helper?” Asked Hizashi as soon as I entered the teachers’ lounge. He was the only one in there. Confined to at least a month of no strenuous activity as he was, all he could do was deal with paperwork. It was no wonder everyone else was out and about and he was reduced to working to deal with the boredom.

“Nothing. And they want us to focus on the recent attacks, not waste our time on this. More patrols. Stricter rules. Constant vigilance. Report any suspicious activity. Don’t engage alone.”

Hizashi looked visibly bummed at the news. Then he changed to confused. Then to affronted. “How does that make sense? The only person to make any kind of progress with the poison is the healer. Shouldn’t we figure out who she is so we can at least have a chance at making an antidote? Them scientists that were assigned to the case don’t know up from down most of the time. Not to mention they seem more excited at the idea of watching someone succumb to the poison than at the prospect of curing it. Did you notice how they never said anything about the entire ‘observing’ thing helping them make an antidote? All they said was how they can understand how it works or know its effects. I think I heard one of them mutter something about potential uses. Are they crazy?!”

“They better be. If not then they’re just a bunch of sadists. Recovery Girl and her team wanted to lead the research, but the government insisted on this particular team. Something about experience, latest technology. It’s definitely weird. They don’t usually involve themselves like this.”

“I just hope they know what they’re doing. The public is starting to panic and keeping them in the dark is not helping. Not that we have lots to tell them. We barely know anything ourselves. They even gave it a name.” Hizashi whispered conspiratorially.

“Oh? What did they manage to come up with?”

“Jigoku no Aibu.” Aizawa stopped, a shiver going down his spine as he remembered the screams, the smell characteristic to hospitals mixed with blood and the tangible fear and despair. They got it right, alright.

“Hell’s Caress.”

………….

Reaching her flat one day, after helping a man dressed in a weird red costume, wearing a fake beard and a red hat to match, Sakura was welcomed by the sight of a significantly bigger, yet undeniably the same, black wolf, curled in front of her door. Hearing her approach, it lifted its head and started softly wagging its tail. It rose on all fours.

“Ok firstly, how did you find this place? Secondly, why do you suddenly reach my shoulders, which is abnormally big mind you, when the last time we met you were just big enough to bite my ankles?”


End file.
